Dragon Life
by K9 ML7
Summary: Formerly known as 'cool title here'. Thank you DunalN2 for your help! This story features a prologue, and then it goes into the tv series. There is a Hiccup/OC pairing, but it's from Hiccup's point of view. I noticed that people haven't really done it this way yet. So, I gave it a shot! WARNING fluffy scenes included!
1. Prologue I Suppose

Cool Title Here

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III walked down the familiar path ways of the forest. He glanced around a bit hoping to see something. Or rather, some_one_. After a few minutes of this, Hiccup stopped. "Who am I kidding. It's been years since then..." he said to himself. He looked around once more and sighed deeply. "I just have to accept the fact that I'm probably not ever gonna see her again." he said. He sighed again. He was about to turn back, when his surroundings caught his attention. He finally realised where he was. He was at the trail end of the path he took to the gorge where he'd met Toothless. The Night Fury dragon. AKA his best friend. He sighed once more and stepped just inside the familiar gorge.

It was still just as beautiful as it ever has been. He took a moment to take in all of it's beauty. Nothing has changed since he and Toothless had last been here. He began walking to the edge of the fish filled lake. Then he saw something in the dirt. He sat himself down on a small rock by the water. He looked at the small squiggles in the sand. It wasn't much now considering that it had been a few months since then, but it was the same drawing of Toothless from the second day they met. He looked around the scene at Toothless' scribbles that, was probably meant to be him. Hiccup smiled at that thought. It seemed so long ago but it was only three months or so.

Suddenly a chill ran down Hiccup's spine. He shivered a bit. Strange, it wasn't a cold day. For a spring day, it was pretty nice out. The wind had calmed over night and the sky was clear of clouds. He looked at the lake. It was calm. Although, something about, something about this place seemed...familiar. Like he'd been here before he'd met Toothless. Which was strange because he didn't remember ever being here. But not remembering something didn't mean it didn't happen. Right? Hiccup stood up and walked towards the edge of the water.

He bent down and peered in. He wasn't sure why he was doing this, but it was as though something was almost- _summoning_ him to look. As he stared into the water, his reflection stared back.. At first, nothing strange happened. The key words being, _at first_.

Hiccup's world began to slow down. Time almost, stopped. "What..." he breathed. In the water, images began to appear. Hiccup leaned in to get a better view. A small tiny human figure appeared. Hiccup somehow knew that figure was himself. Himself when he was about five years old. Just tiny. He'd always been small. For a viking. The scene came into view. He was here. At the gorge. Maybe he had been here when he was younger.

In the water, Hiccup saw himself wondering around in awe at the place. He smiled to himself. He'd always been the adventurous type. As the vision or whatever it was went on, he saw himself see something splashing about in the water. Shock and realisation appeared on Hiccup's face as he now began to remember. It wasn't a vision. But a memory. A memory of...her. Hiccup gasped a bit of the thought. Out of nowhere, his heart began racing. His palms became clammy. Why was this happening to him?

The memory went on further. Little Hiccup moved closer to the water to see what the splashing object was. He gasped seeing a small hand appear and disappear back into the water. It was a human! A small human judging by the hand size. They needed help! He looked around for a large stick or something that he could reach out to them. He wasn't a very good swimmer yet so he didn't want to go in himself. Finally he saw a big branch that had fallen. He looked at the figure splashing about in the water. It might just work! Now the only question was, how would he get it over there? He didn't think all that long about it though, with that, he grabbed onto the branch. With all his might, he pulled on the branch. At first, it wasn't budging. "Come- on!" his high voice squeaked out. He grunted a bit.

He tugged on a small, sturdy branch sticking out of the larger one. He looked ahead at the splashing figure. All of a sudden, he shot forwards, dragging the branch behind him!

As Hiccup watched the memory, he stood up a bit in shock. He shouldn't have been able to move that thing all by himself like that... what happened? Something had to have pushed it! Hiccup leaned in a bit watching curiously. The scene showed Hiccup dragging the branch proudly to the lake. The scene widened to show what was pushing the branch. Or, more like, _who_ was pushing the branch. Hiccup gasped again in shock as the figure came into view. The figure was big, black, and it had a tail. It also had wings. Wings that were folded up in order to keep quiet. It had long feathery ears. The eyes- he`d seen those eyes. They`re the eyes he sees first thing in the morning. Toothless. Toothless was pushing the branch behind Hiccup. Unbeknownst to him because he kept his eyes on the figure in the water. Toothless was helping him out!

Little Hiccup made it to the water in almost no time flat. The figure in the water had come closer to the edge so that made it easier to get the branch to it. Little Hiccup got ready to throw the branch out there a bit. Toothless bit onto the branch lifting it up as Hiccup`s arm went up. Little Hiccup didn`t even notice the dragon behind him. It was amazing! Little Hiccup turned as Toothless helped him throw it out.

The branch landed a splash short of the figure. "Grab on!" squeaked Hiccup. Toothless stayed patiently waiting behind him. The figure in the water came to surface and grabbed on. Hiccup grabbed on the branch sticking out and began to pull. Hiccup was amazed that he didn't even notice Toothless tugging on his shirt to help him. He guessed that he was too busy paying attention to the figure clinging to the branch. When the figure was hanging on the edge of the lake, Hiccup stumbled backwards once he let go of the branch. Toothless made sure to get out of the way so that he wouldn't hit him. So that he'd stay hidden in plain sight. Hiccup ran towards the figure. That figure, was a girl.

A small girl. About the same age as him. Only five. Hiccup got her out of the water and set her down near that small rock. He layed her down on the grass. Little Hiccup took in what she looked like as Hiccup himself remembered. She was small, and thin. Her bright red long curls that went to her waist were soaked and covered a bit of her face. Little Hiccup cautiously moved the strands away from her face. Hiccup sighed as he remembered every detail about her. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Since the young girl wasn't moving, Hiccup leaned in and cautiously poked the girl in the cheek. Once she moved, Hiccup quickly withdrew his hand.

The girl stirred a bit, then her eyes blinked open and she coughed. The girl sat up slowly. Then she noticed Hiccup. She stared at him curiously. He stared back. Her eyes were beautiful. Hazel with small purplish specks and a light brown ring around the pupil. Hiccup finally realised he'd been staring, and said something. "Oh, um... are you okay?" he asked quietly. The girl stared at him a bit, and hesitated before answering. She nodded. Hiccup glanced at the ground before speaking. "Um, what were you doing in there?" he asked. The girl stared at him. Hiccup's face began to redden. As he remembered, he recalled feeling very hot after that. "It's okay you don't have to answer if you don't want to." he said quickly.

The girl still stared at him as if she hadn't seen another human being before. Hiccup stirred awkwardly. He hadn't been stared at like this before. Most of the time, he was ignored. Well, his mother payed attention to him. His father? Uh, half and half.

As Hiccup watched, he felt his own face heat up. He ignored it though and kept his attention on the memory. "My name is Hiccup." Little Hiccup said. He held out his hand for a shake. The girl just stared at him. Hiccup withdrew his hand, a little sad, and his face grew even more red. He didn't really know what to say. He looked down at the ground in front of him. Suddenly a small hand appeared in his view and took his. He looked up to see the young girl smiling. He smiled as well. "I'm Valerie." she said quietly. It was almost a whisper, but Hiccup heard it. He smiled. It sounded similar to his mother's name, Valhallarama. So, naturally, that's how he remembered it. Hiccup sighed remembering her voice.

It was so, soft. Warm even. Friendly. Little Hiccup found himself staring again and glanced away feeling embarrassed.

Near by, Toothless watched his friend with curiosity. What the heck was he doing? He just simply stared into the water. He's been doing that for a few minutes now. In the beginning he'd gasped a few times. What was that about? Hadn't he seen a fish before? Toothless didn't bother his friend because he wanted to see what the outcome of this situation would be. After all, Hiccup was standing, and was bent over peering into the water. He was very close to the edge. Was he seeing something that Toothless wasn't? Earlier a strange sense had emerged. A chill went through Toothless' body. It was a strange kind of...power. He sensed that it ran throughout the gorge. Was this perhaps, sacred grounds? Maybe a spiritual being once lived here. It'd make sense.

Then a noise caught Toothless' attention. However, his friend didn't seem to notice. He must be seeing something then. He's just been staring into the water as if something was there other than fish. Toothless looked to his right. In the rocks, there was a figure. A human. Toothless' eyes narrowed a bit. He was about to growl, but familiarity stopped him. He stared at the human. She looked oddly familiar...

"What exactly _are_ you doing?" she asked Hiccup. Hiccup, upon not hearing her come, was startled. Actually, startled is an understatement. "Whoa!" yelled Hiccup. He turned suddenly and was slipping into the water. He had been standing over it, on the edge after all. He fell backwards in with a splash. "Oh my gosh! Sorry! Sorry!" said the girl. She ran up and grabbed his hand just as he went under. She pulled him out of there and onto the grass. She layed him down on the grass. He was now soaked to the bone. He must have passed out from the shock of the cold spring water, or he gasped some water into his lungs. Or both. Toothless watched the whole scene and his eyes followed their motions.

This girl seemed so familiar. Toothless stared at the two, trying to remember if he'd seen her be- wait! He suddenly took notice to how the two were arranged. The girl was leaning over Hiccup who was out lying down on the grass. Toothless' eyes widened in shock. This scene had happened before! He knew it! Suddenly the memory flashed before his eyes. He knew he'd seen Hiccup somewhere before! That was why he befriended him... well, half the reason why.

The girl brushed some hair out of Hiccup's face. Hiccup. He wasn't moving. This whole thing has definitely happened before. The girl leaned in more. Then Hiccup stirred a bit. A small groan came from his mouth. "What...the..." he breathed quietly. His eyes blinked open. Yep. This has without a doubt happened before. Toothless remembered the whole thing. He helped Hiccup save someone. Now the scene had just replayed in front of him. Toothless smiled to himself.

Hiccup stared at the girl in front of him. "Hiccup...I-I'm sorry." she stammered. He knew her? Hiccup blinked. _'Duh. You idiot! Of course you know her! Now...say something!'_ he thought.

"Uuuuuhh..." was what came out. He did a mental face-palm. _'Nice one.'_ he thought. But, she smiled. "You remember me, right Hiccup?" she asked. Hiccup blinked again and smiled. So did she. Her voice was still warm and soft! Hiccup slowly sat up. Then he quickly embraced her in a friendly hug. The girl laughed. "I take that as a yes!" she said. "But, you can still speak right?" this time Hiccup was the one who laughed.

"S-sorry. I just... uh...What-what happened to you Valerie? I've been looking since..." he trailed off. Valerie pulled away. Although, Hiccup for some reason, wanted to stay in that position. He wanted to feel how he felt before. Once they were fully apart, Hiccup suddenly felt cold, and chilled. But that might have been because he was still soaking wet.

He looked at Valerie and stared deep into her beautiful hazel eyes as if the answer was in there. "Hiccup. I left b-because...I-I..." As Hiccup looked into her eyes, he began to see sadness appear. Without thinking, he took her hand in his. She looked up in surprise. Hiccup could feel his face heat up again. He smiled. "I-it's okay. You don't have to explain if you don't want to. I don't want to push you or anything." he said. She smiled and squeezed his hand tightly. The two fell into a comfortable silence.

Near by, Toothless waited. He gurgled a tiny bit, not so much that they'd notice him. Would they do something already? It's getting quite boring. From what he could tell by Hiccup's reactions towards the girl, Valerie, there might just be _something_ there. Hiccup use to have the same reactions from Astrid, but eventually that sizzled out and he was just friends with her. They didn't actually go out or get together. Toothless thought that she wasn't a very good match for him anyways. She's too, tough, and strong-headed. Too hard to impress. Almost the _exact_ opposite of Hiccup himself. Yeah, yeah. Toothless has heard the humans say that opposite's attract a lot, but he believed otherwise. He believed that if they're _too different_, it wouldn't really turn out good. He figured that's what happened between Hiccup and Astrid. Valerie on the other hand, Toothless had only known her for an incredibly short amount of time, but he had this feeling about her.

She seemed friendly enough. She doesn't seem to be one for killing and war and such. That was a good sign. She was very pretty. Red hair, green eyes, and tall. Valerie also seems to have a good arm too. She pulled Hiccup out of the water in no time flat. Although, it _was_ Hiccup. He is rather light. The two apparently know each other very well, that is also a good sign. It looks as though their close. Plus, the way those two are staring at each other, while holding hands...in silence. Guh! Do something already! Gees! What did Toothless have to show them how to interact? He sighed on the inside, but boy did he want to sigh deeply. This may take a while.

With that, Toothless plopped himself down on his belly, extremely quietly though not to draw their attention away from each other. He rested his head on his paws. He kept willing them to do something.

Suddenly, Hiccup was looking as though he had something to say, but was debating whether or not to say it. "Uh... so- Valerie. Um, I was wondering... um..." he stammered. Oh come on kid, just spit it out. Toothless watched them intensely with his ears perked up. "Yeah?" Valerie urged. Come on, come on...Toothless has waited long enough. Hiccup took a deep breath. Why was he nervous? Was he going to ask her to be his girlfriend? "I was thinking that maybe you could come to the village." he said quickly. "With me..." Valerie didn't say anything. "Um, t-that way you could live with a family. I-in a nice warm home. Safe and sound." Hiccup put some emphasis on the word _safe_. Valerie smiled, but it was sad. She looked down.

"Hiccup... You know why I stayed out here before. I'll have to do it again now that I'm back." she said calmly and quietly. Hiccup's smile slowly turned to a frown. He sighed a little. "Y-yeah. I know. I just...Berk's nights aren't the best. Even in the summer time they can get cold. You know that. I... I know that it's somewhat safer now that the vikings and dragons are at peace but,,," Toothless could see that there was curiosity in Valerie's eyes. "Oh, you haven't heard huh?" said Hiccup. Toothless' expression changed from eagerness, to 'duh'. Well, of course she wouldn't know. She's been away for, well, the gods know how long!

Valerie looked down. "I suppose I have been away for a long time." she said. Then her gaze fell onto Hiccup's prosthetic leg. "Your leg!" she exclaimed. That's right. When they had saved her, Hiccup had two legs. Another 'duh' expression appeared on Toothless. Maybe he's been sitting here for too long. For a moment, he thought his left leg has fallen asleep. As Hiccup began telling the infamous story of him and the dragon queen, and meeting a certain dragon that everyone feared at the time, said dragon shook his leg awake.

It didn't take too long for Hiccup to finish the story. He usually tells it with excitement and enthusiasm. Plus there was the fact that Valerie didn't interrupted him and ask ridiculous questions that would be answered later. (That sadly happened a lot.) Hiccup was giving Valerie a moment to take it all in. Her expression read amazement. Then she laughed. Hiccup's expression read confusion. "Uh, what? What's so funny?" he asked. Valerie smiled. That made Hiccup smile. "I remember you being so scared of dragons. Now look at you! The bravest of them all! And having a Night Fury, the most 'frightening' of them all, your best friend! It's...amazing!" said Valerie. Hiccup's smile became wider, if that were possible. "Oh. Right, speak of the devil- Toothless! I know you're out there, you can come out. It's okay!" Hiccup suddenly shouted. Toothless' expression turned from 'duh' to 'hmph.' Devil. Psh.

As Hiccup and Valerie looked around for him, he got on all four and made his way through the brushes, unnoticed, behind Hiccup. This would be payback for that 'devil' comment. He didn't like being called that. He very slowly and cautiously made his way out of the brush and right behind Hiccup. Hiccup didn't seem to notice. Good. Steady, easy- almost...there-

"Hey boy!" Hiccup suddenly turned and faced him. Toothless jumped and his wings shot out for a second. With that, his expression turned from 'what the ****?!' to 'hmph' again. He'd been beat! That never happened. Perhaps Hiccup had now learned not to call him a 'devil'. Or maybe he just knows his best friend really well. "Thought you had me didn't ya? Come on don't be a poor sport. Come and meet Valerie." Toothless sighed and walked around Hiccup. Toothless looked at Valerie who looked at him in awe. Toothless cooed hello.

Valerie smiled and reached out to touch him. Toothless, trusting her, moved closer and pressed his nose against her hand. Valerie giggled. "He's cute." she said. Well, cute was better than devil. Toothless cooed again. Valerie glanced at Hiccup. "Hey um, are you okay?" she asked him. Toothless looked at Hiccup when he didn't answer right away. He seemed to be in a trance of some kind. He was just staring at Valerie. Toothless blew some air in his face to get his attention. Hiccup blinked and looked at him. "Oh, what? Sorry...uh..." he stammered. His cheeks became a light shade of pink.

Valerie smiled softly. "I said, are you okay? From the fall?" she asked. Hiccup smiled. "Oh that- yeah I'm fine." The two began talking about flying dragons, when Toothless heard something in the bushes. He looked over, not enough to attract the two that were talking, and saw four people. Hiding. Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. The other teenagers of Berk. Why were they here? They noticed that Toothless was looking at them. Astrid brought her index finger to her lips telling him to be quiet. He did so. But again, why were they here?

_**Earlier...**_

The teens, minus Hiccup, were hanging out in the plaza that morning. Snotlout was going on about some event that happened with Hookfang, his Monstrous Nightmare. Astrid noticed Gobber walk up to them. "Hey Gobber." she said. The other teens stopped talking. "Whatcha need?" asked Fishlegs.

"Have any of ya seen Hiccup today? I need him to watch the shack." said Gobber. Now that they thought about, they haven't. "Hm. No. Actually, I haven't. Have you guys?" asked Astrid. Fishlegs thought for a moment. "No. Toothless is gone too so maybe he went out flying." he suggested. Snotlout looked at him. "It's not time to fly yet though. If that guy is getting extra flying time, I'm just gonna-" he started, but Tuffnut interrupted him.

"He told me he was going for a walk earlier. Haven' t seen him since." he said. Gobber looked at him. "How long ago was that?" he asked.

"Around ten. Why."

Gobber sighed. "Because it's four o'clock now. He's been gone for too long now. I need you to go look for him. I can't leave the shack until he's here." he explained. The teens nodded and headed off.

"If you ask me, Hiccup hasn't been gone this long since he was hiding Toothless. Maybe he's hiding something else." said Fishlegs. The teens were walking along the pathways of the forest in search of him. "That's an idea. But I can't come up with a secret he'd want to hide from us. I know Hiccup. If it were an invention, he'd want to share it once he'd built it. Right?" Astrid sighed. What was with that guy? Suddenly, they heard a big _splash!_ "What was that?" asked Ruffnut.

"Sh! Come on." said Astrid. She headed in the direction of the splash. She then recognised where they were. It was the gorge where Hiccup had kept Toothless hidden in. "Shhh..." she whispered. They tiptoed in and hid among the rocks. They saw a girl pull Hiccup out of the water. Who the heck was that?

Hiccup woke up and he seemed to know the girl. How? What was her story? "Hey- what's Toothless doing?" whispered Tuffnut. The other teens looked to where he was pointing. Toothless was just on the other side of Hiccup and the girl. He looked as though he was hiding just as they were. Their attention was brought back to Hiccup when he suddenly shot up and hugged the girl! "What the-" Snotlout whispered in surprise.

After Hiccup and the girl, Valerie apparently, began talking. "I knew he was hiding something!" Snotlout whispered. Astrid covered his mouth. "Would you be _quiet?!_" she whispered.

Hiccup then told the story of the dragon queen. Afterwards, he called Toothless out. The teens watched Toothless as he crawled on all four in behind Hiccup. Apparently he didn't like being called a devil. The teens smiled when his plan backfired. Once Toothless and Valerie got to know each other, the teens notice Hiccup staring at Valerie. "Well...this is interesting." stated Fishlegs. Just then, they saw that Toothless had noticed them hiding. Astrid brought her index finger to her lips telling him to be quiet. He did so.

Toothless was still wondering why they were there when he turned his attention back to Valerie who'd begun to pet him. "So...I know you're worried about staying in Berk but, it'd be better than staying out here. I know you've gotten use to it and all, but- well. I just, I..." Hiccup stammered.

"Hiccup... I know you care about me and I would like to meet your friends but-" said Valerie. Toothless, out of the corner of his eye, suddenly saw Snotlout stand up. "And _we_ would like to meet _you_." he said. The other teens looked at him quickly and back at Hiccup. Hiccup and Valerie jumped at his voice and looked at them. Hiccup stood up quickly. "Uh, uh, guys! What uh, what are you doing here?" he asked nervously. He wasn't quiet ready for this yet. Not for Valerie to be discovered like this. The other teens came out from behind the rocks.

"Well, I would just like to say- it was Astrid's idea to hide." said Snotlout. He gestured to Astrid. All he got were eye rolls from everyone else. "Gobber sent us to find you. It's four thirty. You know that right?" said Ruffnut. Hiccup looked surprised which meant that he didn't know. "Ooh man, I'm sorry guys. Uh, why did Gobber-"

"He said that he wanted you to watch the shack today. While he went on a fishing trip with your father?" said Astrid. Hiccup sighed. "Man! I'm doomed! I completely forgot!" He tried to calm himself so he wouldn't panic. "So uh, if you don't mind me asking, who is she anyways?" asked Fishlegs. Hiccup sighed. He then took a deep breath and told their story very quickly. The gang stared at him for a second.

"Wow. No wonder you wanted to keep her a secret. Her being from the southern tribe and all." Snotlout said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I mean, we use to be at war with them! I guess over time you two were lucky that it mellowed out." said Astrid. Hiccup and Valerie glanced at each other. "Well, either that or we just completely forgot about each other." stated Tuffnut. "I did."

"It's amazing to think that you were just left behind. Good thing Hiccup found you. He's _good at keeping secrets._" said Astrid.

Valerie smiled. "Yeah. Lucky he's one to put aside differences. Even back then." she said. She looked at Hiccup who smiled. But then he frowned. "I don't know what's going to happen when we tell my dad." he looked at the ground. Valerie reached over and grabbed his hand. He looked up. "Yeah. He is pretty unpredictable." said Ruffnut.

"I'd hate to be in your shoe." said Snotlout.

"And how are you gonna explain it to Gobber?" said Fishlegs. "He seemed pretty upset that you skipped out on him." Hiccup frowned. "Boy. I have the best friends in the world." he said sarcastically.

As the teens talked about what he would do, Toothless sat just behind Hiccup and Valerie watching. He liked to listen to their conversations. Humans were interesting to him. Then Toothless' gaze went to the space in between Hiccup and Valerie. They were still holding hands. He wondered if the other teens realised this. Toothless smiled inwardly. Once everything was settled, the teens plus Toothless started to head back to the village.

With each step he took Hiccup's nerves didn't settle. Despite what happened with the dragon war, he kept thinking the worst outcomes of this situation. In no time though, they had arrived back. They came back to see a very annoyed Gobber and Stoik. Hiccup braced himself for...well, whatever really.

He took a deep breath. "Uh- h-hi d-" however, Hiccup got cut off. Stoik turned to him. "I hope you have a good reason son. Our entire one month fishing trip has been delayed one day. We need those fish." said Stoik. This time Snotlout cut in. "Oh, he has a reason alright." he said. With that, he and the other teens, minus Valerie, plus Toothless walked to the side to watch this engagement. Hiccup just stared at them. His attention was drawn back to his father. "Hiccup. Who is she exactly?" asked Stoik. Hiccup hesitated before speaking.

"Uh, it's uh, a long story?" he said. He glanced at the other teens. "We have time. You know. _Now_." said Gobber. He was not helping. Well, Hiccup couldn't really blame him. It _was_ his fault. He quickly looked at Toothless, who in his incredibly helpful way, blinked. Everyone stood there waiting for his response. "O-okay. H-here it goes." Hiccup said quietly. Mostly to himself. He then told the story about Valerie and how he'd found her. He'd left out the part about saving her from drowning though. Once he had finished, there was a moment of silence before Gobber and Stoik were...laughing. That left Hiccup a bit dumbfounded.

He glanced at the other teens who were smiling as if they knew something he didn't. Even Toothless looked at way. Even though his expression hadn't changed one bit. He turned back to his father who'd quieted down. Hiccup was still confused. "Son- come with me." said Stoik. Hiccup glanced at the others, then followed his father. He really didn't know what to say at this point.

The two of them entered their home. Stoik sat in his big chair by the fireplace. Hiccup chose a smaller chair and pulled it over beside him. Stoik looked at him. "Son. I can understand why you were afraid back then, but now. Now you don't have to be. You can tell me if you're worried about something." he said calmly. Hiccup looked at the ground. "I-I know. I just...I just..." Hiccup trailed off not knowing how to respond. Stoik put a large hand on his small arm. Their father-son moment was shortly lived however when they heard an "Awww!" coming from the window. Hiccup turned to his right as Stoik looked up to see the others, including Gobber, looking in on them. They disappeared as quickly as they were spotted though.

Hiccup shifted awkwardly in his chair as he turned and stared at the fireplace. His father just laughed. "Ya do have some interesting friends there son." he said. Hiccup smiled. "And as for the girl, I'm sure we can make arrangements with one of the families." Stoik finished. Hiccup beamed. "R-really? She can stay?" he asked hoping he heard what he thought he heard. Stoik laughed again. "Of course!" he said. A sudden cheer from outside brought their attention back to the window. This time Hiccup walked over to it with Stoik behind him. They had come just in time to stop Snotlout in the middle of his sentence.

"So, Valerie, since you're looking for a place to stay you know my family-" although the didn't have to stop him. He stopped himself once he realised he was talking to no one. The others had walked away from the window at that point. He looked at Hiccup and Stoik who were looking smug. "Whatever." Snotlout said glumly. He then joined the others. Stoik and Hiccup walked out of the house. The gang had decided that Valerie would live with Astrid and her mother. So long as she says yes. Once Hiccup reached the group he caught Valerie's eye and smiled.

"See dude? We told you, you had nothing to worry about!" Snotlout said. Hiccup turned his attention away from Valerie, and onto him. "Told me- you guys said nothing supportive whatsoever!" he exclaimed. Ruffnut chimed in. "Hey! I said that he was unpredictable!" she said. Hiccup thought on that. "Well...yeah. But you guys well." he said. He gestured to Snotlout and Fishlegs. Fishlegs shrugged. "Fine! Whatever!" sighed Snotlout. He clapped his hands together. "So. Who's up for flying?" he asked. The teens smiled. "Alright you have some fun. I have to go down to Spitelout's fields. _Someone_ has been yak tipping again." he said, glancing at the twins. They didn't respond as they were arguing about something. They just got eye rolls from everyone else. Stoik carried on to what he was doing.

"Alright. Time to fly. I just need to go ask my mom about Valerie. You wanna come meet her Val?" asked Astrid. Valerie smiled, as did Hiccup. "Sure!" she said. The two girls went off to find Astrid's mother, Phlegma. Before leaving with her, Valerie quickly squeezed Hiccup's hand and smiled at him, thanking him. Hiccup watched her as she caught up to Astrid. "We'll catch up with you guys, you go ahead!" called Valerie.

"O-okay! We'll see you there!" Hiccup stammered back. This made the other teens to all look at each other. Hiccup turned back to them once he couldn't see the girls anymore. He noticed the smug looks that they were giving him. "What?" he said. He looked at Toothless but that did nothing as he had the same look on him. There was silence as Hiccup tried to figure out why they were looking at him in that way. "Okay. This isn't going anywhere. So- when are ya gonna tell her?" asked Ruffnut. Hiccup stared at her.

"What? Tell her what?" he asked. Fishlegs and Snotlout glanced at each other. "I really don't think he knows..."whispered Fishlegs. Hiccup looked at them. "What? Know what? What are you talking about?" said Hiccup. He was getting annoyed. He didn't really like being left out now that they were his friends. They smiled however. "All in good time Hiccup." said Snotlout as if he were the wisest man on earth.

"All in good time." echoed Fishlegs. The twins snickered. They went to go get their dragons leaving Hiccup dumbfounded. That was twice in one day. What was going on? Did everyone know something that he didn't? He started to believe that could be true as Toothless was looking incredibly smug. "Oh cut it out bud. Let's get flying already." he sighed. Toothless gave his familiar laugh and the two of them took off.

**A/N: **This was sort of a one shot. But I'm gonna continue it as a book following them in the tv series. The series with a few changes. WARNING: Additional Fluffiness! not a lot... I think.. But just to warn you! There may or may not be an added episode/chapter. Yeah, yeah. It's obviously been done before. But I just decided to give it a shot. I think the gang could use someone sweet and gentle like Valerie.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Criticism? REVIEWS?

*Silence...*

Anyone out there? *Whimpers*


	2. How to Start a Dragon Academy

HTTYD: How to Start a Dragon Academy

**A/N: **Holy cow! A review already! I only posted this today! Cool! Thank YOU! :D Glad you liked it!

So, Here it is. Chapter two. Like I think I've said before, each chapter will be an episode of the tv series. With changes. Obviously. OC and all. Well, here it goes.

Berk. For generations it was Viking against dragon. The battles were ferocious. Then one day- everything changed. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III met Toothless. A Night Fury, and together they've shown people there instead of fighting dragons, they can ride them. Live _with _them. Even train them.

Hiccup landed Toothless on the cliff among the others. He held out his hand for Valerie. She smiled, took it, and climbed on. "Okay guys. Best trick competition. Who's up first?" asked Hiccup.

Fishlegs was about to answer, when Snotlout interrupted him. "Me!" he said. Fishlegs looked past him at the others. "Actually I think its-" Snotlout turned to face him. "Me!" he said.

"Sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm, GO!" shouted Astrid. She was a very impatient person. "Oh don't worry! We'll go! And when we go, Hookfang and I are gonna light the sky on fiIIIIIRRREEEEE- AAAAAAHHHHHH!" shouted Snotlout. Without his warning, Hookfang dove off of the cliff. The teens tried to stifle their laughter, but it didn't work. They heard Snotlout's screams all the way until Hookfang landed on the cliff. "I'm alive?! I'M ALIVE!" he shouted. He looked at the others. "Of course I am!" he said with false confidence.

The others sighed. "It's my turn! Ready Meatlug?" Fishlegs asked his Gronkle. He petted her before they lifted off. "Here we go!" Fishlegs said excitedly. The Gronkle flew up and only flew a circle around the twins and back to their spot. "Yes! New personal best!" said Fishlegs. He bent down and Meatlug licked his face.

Ruffnut turned to Tuffnut. "My turn!" she said.

"No my turn!" said Tuffnut. Hiccup sighed. "Guys?" he glanced at Valerie. "Same dragon..." he said. A two-headed Zippleback. "Oh right." said Tuffnut. The twins pounded their fists together and dove down.

The gang stared as the twins had terrible communication skills with them, and their dragon. Eventually the two head actually shot the twins up into the air. "Whoa no! This is awesome and scary!" screamed Tuffnut. The heads caught them with their jaws, and flung them back on their necks. The dragon flew back to the cliff. The twins looked wiped out from the fear. "We almost _died_!" exclaimed Ruffnut.

"I know!" heaved Tuffnut. "Go again?!" Before they could, Astrid stopped them. "Hey! It's my turn!" she called. She turned to Hiccup and Valerie. "You might want to take notes." she said confidently. Hiccup and Valerie smiled at each other. "Let's go. Yah!" and they went. Once they were back they were praised. "Yeah. But can ya do it without the dragon?" said Snotlout. "Ow!" his response was Astrid punching him hard in the arm.

"Well, looks like we got our work cut out for us guys." said Hiccup. "You ready?" he asked Valerie. She'd watch them practice, but she has never actually ridden with them. "As I'll ever be!" she said excitedly. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and leaned in. Hiccup blushed making the others stifle their snickers.

Toothless flew off. He first went up a little ways, then dove down as fast as he could. Before they hit the water, Hiccup levelled them out making the waves splash upwards. They flew in between some rock peaks, then they were flying at a bridged peak. "Get ready to hold onto the saddle Valerie! I'll try not to sit on you as well..." said Hiccup. They got ready. "That would be appreciated." said Valerie.

Hiccup jumped up as the other two flew under the bridge. Hiccup ran as fast as he could to the other side. Their timing had to be perfect. He made it to the edge just in time as Toothless flew under with Valerie hanging on for dear life. Once Hiccup landed in the saddle and Valerie was once again wrapping her arms around him, he made a note to make a two-person saddle. "Another win guys!" said Hiccup.

"Good job." said Valerie. She leaned in again, making Hiccup blush...again. Luckily this time no one could really see it. Although he hoped it would disappear once they landed. A warm feeling also came over him. What was with him? He ignored it as the breeze cooled him off as they landed.

Yep, dragons. Most people on Berk would say that life had gotten better since they've made peace with them. Unfortunately, dragons were still- dragons.

Hiccup and Valerie walked amongst the Viking village. What they saw was a peaceful, yet unpeaceful sight. Yes, the war had ended, but the dragons still had their wild nature to them. "They seem to be eating everything in sight." said Valerie. That was not good. Suddenly a Viking walked past them, looking up. "In coming!" he said pointing up. Hiccup gasped realising what he was talking about. Out of instinct, he grabbed Valerie's hand and went under the nearest Vikings with umbrellas. "Dragon poo!" shouted a Viking.

"Ew! Oh gross, gross, gross!" said Hiccup as they scrambled underneath the umbrellas. "Nice." Valerie said sarcastically. They watched the scene unfold. It was nasty. "Uh- hey Mulch. Hey Bucket. Sorry about the um-" apologized Hiccup. They didn't seem to care that much. "Everyday at three. They're regular at least. A tip of the cap!" said Bucket.

"Better than the days when it was kill or be killed!" said Mulch. That was true. "Hey! We got some fish for that father of yours. Bucket, give the boy the cod." the two teens turned to Bucket. He held up a half eaten fish. "I ate it already? Did I enjoy it?" he asked. Oi. "Uh, no, uh, actually Bucket- I-I'm afraid the uh..." he trailed off as he pointed to the small Terror by Bucket's feet. Happily munching on fish.

"So...Hiccup. Who's the lass here? Haven't seen her before." said Mulch. Hiccup turned back to him after watching the Terror's chomp down on the fish. "Oh right! Um, this is Valerie. She's an old friend of mine. She's gonna stay with the Hofferson's." he explained. Valerie smiled as did Hiccup. "It's nice to meet you two. I'm sure I'll have fun here." she said happily. She looked at Hiccup who smiled even bigger if that were possible. He also felt his face heat up a bit. Although, he ignored it. "Well then! I'm sure you will! With the dragons and Vikings at peace, things are bound to get interesting. Aren't they Bucket?" said Mulch. Said Viking looked at him. "Oh yes. And they are so much fun for the small children!" he said.

Most people on Berk were willing to accept the good with the bad. But there were those who would never accept the dragons, and would do anything to drive them away.

The next day, Hiccup found Toothless by his father and Gobber. Valerie was standing by Toothless petting him. The two men were preparing for the freeze that was about to come. Hiccup always hated those days. He hated the cold. It didn't help that he was basically a stick man.

As he went over to where his dragon and other best friend was, he felt the warm feeling again._ 'Well... maybe the winters won't be that bad if this warmness keeps coming...'_ though Hiccup. He smiled to Valerie as he started to pet Toothless as well. The dragon looked as though he were in heaven.

"Oh! It's the dragons again!" a scrawny old man with a staff walked up the steps to the Great Hall. Valerie looked over. "Who's that?" she asked. Hiccup looked at her, then at the man. "Oh him? That's Mildew. He's Berk's grumpy slash crazy old man. You know. Every village has one." he joked. Valerie laughed quietly. A tingly sensation went through Hiccup's body. His face heated up even more. He wondered if anyone else noticed a rise in temperature. Although that wouldn't make sense considering what time of the year it was.

Hiccup tried to ignore his body's temperature, and focus on Stoik and Mildew's conversation. It was important that he did so too. Mildew was one who would do anything to drive them away. "They aren't fit to live amongst civilised men!" said Mildew.

"Neither are you Mildew! Why do you think we built your house so far outside of town?" said Gobber. Hiccup restrained from laughing. "Oh very well! Make your jokes! Meanwhile these _dragons_ eat up are village gone!" said Mildew. The villagers could hear him, and sadly, they chimed in with complaints of their own. This was not good. Hiccup and Valerie glanced at each other.

"They turn people's houses into a pile of rubber!" said Mildew. The villagers agreed. Uh oh. "They even disturb an old man's rest! Can't you see these bags under me eyes?" said Mildew as he turned to Stoik and Gobber. Gobber sighed. "He's right. He's hideous." he said. Once again, Hiccup restrained from laughing. "These are wild, and unpredictable beasts! They even cracked this man's skull! Like an egg." Mildew gestured to Bucket. That may be a reason why he had a bucket on his head, but that's not the reason why the dragons did it.

The crowd that had gathered was getting angry. "You need to put those dragons in cages!" said Mildew to Stoik. The crowd actually agreed. "If you don't, they'll eat us out of house and destroy the entire village!" shouted Mildew. Hiccup decided to interject. "They don't mean any harm! They're just dragons...being dragons." he said calmly. He went and stood where his father was.

"Look Mildew. If there's a problem, _I'll_ deal with it." said Stoik. He stood in front of his son. "Oh there is a problem Stoik. And I think I speak for everyone when I say, you better do somethin' about it!" said Mildew. With that, he walked off back to his home.

"We can't just let dragons run wild like they own the place." said Stoik. Hiccup was overhearing his and Gobber's conversation from behind a wall in their home. "We could put up signs!" said Stoik. Gobber looked up from carving a duck. "Signs. For dragons?" he said.

"No! For the people." said Stoik.

"Signs. For Vikings? We're not big readers Stoik." said Gobber. Stoik sighed. "We'll build a huge net and stretch it around the plaza." he said.

"Nets? You do know they breath fire."

"I know very well they breath fire, Gobber. Aarrg! Maybe Mildew was right, we have to-"

"Uh, dad! Wait." said Hiccup. He walked into the room. "What if I deal with the dragons?" he asked. Stoik looked at his son. "You?" he said.

"Who else? If anyone can control them, I can. I'm the best man for the job." said Hiccup. Toothless came around him and he started petting him. "You're not a man _yet_ Hiccup." said Stoik. Hiccup stepped forward. "Not if you don't give me the chance to be!" he said. It was true. Stoik sighed. He glanced at Gobber. "Fair enough. You'll have your chance. Starting tomorrow." Hiccup smiled. Finally! Tomorrow he'd prove that they can be trained.

The next day, after training, Hiccup went out to the plaza. "Okay gang. There are going to be a few changes around here." he said. He looked around the plaza at the messes the dragons were causing. Of course Hiccup and the other teens knew that it wasn't intentional. The first dragon he saw was a purple Nadder trying to eat a woman's bread. "Hold on!" called Hiccup. He ran over to the dragon who'd put his head through the doorway. "I'll help you! Just-" said Hiccup. The Nadder turned to face him. "No." he said sternly. He placed his hand out and the dragon calmed down.

"Alright..." Hiccup said under his breath. That moment of calmness was ruined by a flock of chickens rampaging in fear around them. A big blue Gronkle was chasing after them. "Okay..." sighed Hiccup. The Nadder went somewhere else. Hiccup turned to see a Nightmare and a Nadder going head to head, and sheep running all over the place, some of which were on fire...

Hiccup began running. "Toothless, stop that fight! I'll put out the sheep!" he said to him. Hiccup ran and got a bucket of water. However, instead, he'd run into the centre of the plaza amongst the rest of the chaos. The adult Vikings had just about enough of them already!

Meanwhile, near by, the other teens were watching with curiosity and amusement. "What's he doing?" asked Snotlout.

"Uh, I think he's helping the dragons break stuff..." replied Tuffnut.

"Cool!" echoed Ruffnut. Astrid sighed. Fishlegs and Valerie just watched their friend get trampled by a flaming sheep. "Wow. He could really use our help." said Astrid.

"I think we should go down there..." suggested Valerie.

"We'll get to it." said Tuffnut.

"In a _minute_." said Ruffnut. They were obviously enjoying watching him instead. Finally Hiccup had managed to put out the sheep. "Sorry about that..." he sighed. He looked up to see a bunch of dragons fly above...

"And...it's three o'clock." sighed Astrid. They knew what that meant.

"Oooooh...no." sighed Hiccup.

That was one of the most hectic days that Hiccup has ever had! He sat down on his bed as Toothless sat down on the floor next to him. "Oh everything hurts!" he sighed. He lifted his prosthetic leg. "Even this!" he said. He heard a knock on his door. "Hiccup? You in here?" asked a familiar voice. Hiccup stood up quickly. "Uh, Valerie? Oh perfect." he sighed. He didn't know why he was suddenly nervous. He'd known her for practically his whole life. "I don't look too beat up, do I?" he asked Toothless. Toothless gave a look of...pity? "Oh great. Dragon pity." sighed Hiccup. He heard Valerie's footsteps behind him. "Uh, oh hey Valerie! Uh, and uh, Astrid, what a nice surprise!" he fibbed.

"So..." started Astrid. She glanced at Valerie. "How was your day?" she finished. For some reason Hiccup looked awkward, but Astrid couldn't put her finger on why. "Uh, uneventful! Hung around the plaza. You know..." lied Hiccup. Astrid scoffed. "Yeah we _do_ know!" she said.

"Yeah, we uh... kinda saw you out there." said Valerie. Hiccup sighed inwardly. What were they, sisters already? "It's hard to believe you're still standing!" said Astrid. This time Hiccup actually sighed. He plopped down on his bed. Toothless watched them with amusement. He found their conversations funny sometimes. "I'm gonna be seeing flaming sheep in my dreams for the next month!" exclaimed Hiccup. Toothless laughed on the inside. He knew what he'd be dreaming about, but it won't be flaming sheep. Well, maybe just for the next night...

"Hiccup!" called Stoik. Oh boy, just what he needed. "Hiccup." Stoik came up the stairs to his room. Hiccup stood up from his bed. "What's going on out there?! The plaza looks like a war zone!" said Stoik. Well, it wasn't exactly untrue. Was it? "I know it looks bad!" said Hiccup.

"Really bad." whispered Astrid. She wasn't helping. "Yeah, but this is only uh, faze _one_. Of my master plan." said Hiccup. Great. He came up with the idea...now all he needed was the actual plan. "Oh. So you _do_ have a plan." said Stoik. Hiccup glanced at the girls. "I do! Of course I do. It's very complex, lot's of drawings, several moving, parts. Yeah, it's uh, pretty wild." he said. Valerie stood next to Toothless. "In his head." she whispered quietly to him. Toothless looked as though he was holding back a laugh.

"Uh huh. Well this had better be real. Because Mildew stirred up the whole island. And if you don't get those dragons under control, they'll be calling for their heads." said Stoik. He stalked out of the room. He left an unsettling aura amongst the four beings. Especially Toothless. He gave a small troll of worry. Valerie petted him. "Don't worry bud," said Hiccup as he walked over, "your head's not going anywhere."

"You do realise there are like a bazilian dragons out there, and only _one_ of you?" said Astrid. That may be true but..."I hope you really do have a plan." said Valerie, she wasn't even trying to hide the worry in her voice. Sheesh. They were like twins finishing each others sentences. Hiccup sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I know! Uh... just give me the night. I'm sure I'll come up with something..." he said. He hoped he would anyways. Astrid began walking towards the door. "Well, okay. I hope you do come up with one." she said. She waved goodbye and left. Valerie said a quick goodbye to Toothless. He hopped onto his stone bed and got ready for sleep.

Valerie stood up. "Good luck!" she said. She hugged him tightly. The strange warm feeling came back through his body. Though it mostly gathered in his face. A sweet sent of apples brushed over him. For some reason he felt like sighing, but he restrained himself from doing so. As quickly as the hug began, it ended. Hiccup suddenly felt cold. When they pulled apart, Valerie smiled at him. He felt his face get hot again as he smiled back. "Well, good night Hiccup." she said. She began to leave, but she turned around. "And thank you." she glanced at Toothless, who tilted his head. "For everything." she finished.

Toothless cooed a 'you're welcome'. Valerie gave him one last pet. "O-oh. Y-yeah. Sure. Uh, glad to help!" stammered Hiccup. Seriously. Why the heck was he so nervous about? Why was he even trying to hide it? Valerie had known him for years, so she knew when he got nervous. However, she didn't seem affected. That made him more relaxed. Sort of. She smiled at him again, and he smiled back as she left. Once she was gone, Hiccup finally let out that sigh. He turned to go to bed, when he saw Toothless giving him a look. It practically screamed annoyance. "What." Hiccup said. Now the look changed to 'really? He's asking that question?' Hiccup gave him a confused look in return. The dragon sighed and blew flames in a circle on his bed. He then layed down and closed his eyes.

"Uh, okay...good night to you too?" sighed Hiccup. Sometimes his dragon was confusing. As everyone else. It was like they knew something he didn't. Even Valerie. Were they planning something? Maybe it was for Astrid. She didn't seem to notice their behaviour. But, whatever the case, he had to focus on those wild dragons.

"That's your plan? Train dragons?" asked Ruffnut. All of the teens were at the arena. "Here? Where we use to kill them?" asked Tuffnut. He had a point there. Hiccup placed a barrel next to Toothless. "Right. Because we _don't do that anymore_. That's why it's available." he said. He turned to the gang. "Actually, the dragons do seem a little nervous." said Valerie. She also had a point. "That's because they're _very_ sensitive. Meatlug especially. She lost a cousin here. We try not to talk about it." Fishlegs whispered that last sentence.

"It's amazing how your dad just gave us the arena!" exclaimed Astrid. She stood beside Valerie. "Well, it would be, if he did, yeah. But, he didn't. So that's uh, another thing, we should try not to talk about." said Hiccup. Valerie looked at him. "Wait-" she started. But Astrid finished for her. "So we're going behind your father's back." she stated. Hiccup sighed. Were they sure they weren't related? "There you go! Talking about it! Uh... alright. Everybody, here's the thing. The dragons are out of control. We want them to live in our world without destroying it, but they can't without out help. They've been blowing things up in the village. We've gotta do something about it." said Hiccup.

"Got it! Help dragons blow things up. We can totally do that." said Tuffnut. Should he even try? "No, I believe I said-" However Ruffnut interrupted him. "Here's how we're gonna do it! First, we make them really, _really_ angry!" she said.

"No problem! We anger everybody!" said Tuffnut. Hiccup sighed. "You guys, this is serious! Mildew, wants all of our dragons. Caged! And I don't know about you, but that's _not_ okay with me!" he said. The twins looked at them. "You're right." said Tuffnut. "She's sorry." Ruffnut glared at him.

"Okay then!" said Hiccup. He went over the barrel he placed beside Toothless. "Next problem, the dragons are eating everything in sight." he said. He pulled out a loaf of bread from the barrel. Toothless looked at it curiously. "Now, when a dragon grabs something it's not suppose to have, you can get them to drop it, by giving them a little scratch just below the cheek." he explained. He demonstrated with Toothless.

"No, no, no, no, no." said Snotlout, he walked up and took the loaf from Hiccup. "Maybe that works for you and Toothless, but Hookfang and me? We do things a little different." he said. He threw the loaf up to the large red dragon who caught it in his jaws. "When I want this big boy to do something, I just get right in his face, and- DROP THAT RIGHT NOW! YOU HEAR ME!" he shouted at Hookfang. Hookfang bowed his head at first. He dropped the bread alright. However, he took Snotlout in his jaws and shook him a bit instead. "See? He dropped it." came his muffled voice.

Tuffnut laughed. "He-he. Should we help him?" he asked. Astrid smiled. "Yeah. In a minute." she said.

"Alright. We've got a lot of training to do, but together, we can keep these dragons under control." said Hiccup. He took out two loaves of bread. "Uh, can somebody do that chin scratchy thing?" called Snotlout. He was still in Hookfang's jaws. "Hello! You guys still there?"

After a couple of hours, the teens left for the village. They got there to find...nothing? "Huh. No dragons." said Fishlegs. Hiccup wasn't so sure. "That was easy." said Ruffnut.

"Lunch?" said Snotlout.

"That's weird...If the dragons aren't here, where are they?" Hiccup asked no one in particular.

Suddenly they all heard a loud bang. They looked in that direction and saw flames shoot up in smoke by the building where they stored food. "Something tells me, that way." sighed Astrid. The gang watched as the dragons slowly made themselves known to the people. They ran up there. "Stormfly?" said Astrid.

"Hookfang!" sighed Snotlout. The two dragons were crunching happily on fish and bread. Hiccup ran up the steps. He got there in time to see his father throw a large log from the building down. "They've eaten everything!" he said. "We've got nothing left for the freeze!" the two walked out of the room.

"I warned you Stoik! But did you listen to me? No! You put a bunch of teenagers in charge! Now look what the dragons have done! Caging is too good for those beasts!" shouted Mildew.

"Dad, I swear I can fix this! We-we were just starting to-" Stoik interrupted Hiccup.

"Enough Hiccup. How can I trust you to control all the dragons, when you couldn't even control your own?" he said. He gestured to his left. They looked to see Toothless happily munching on a fish. "Oh Toothless..." sighed Hiccup.

"Bucket, Mulch, man the boats! We need another catch!" shouted Stoik he threw the men a couple of barrels. "It's too late Stoik. It took us six months to catch all that fish!" said Mulch. Stoik turned around. "Don't tell me it's too late! We've got to try!" he yelled. That made the two men jump. "Of course we do! Uh, ha, ha. Uh, don't tell the chief it's too late. Ha, you're always so negative!" Mulch said to Bucket. He tapped the bucket on his head. "I don't know what it is with me." said Bucket.

Stoik walked out of the building with Hiccup and Gobber on his tail. "Dad please! You gotta listen to me. I know dragons better than-" Hiccup started. But, Stoik stopped him. Again. "Not now Hiccup! I have a village to feed. The dragons have done enough damage. By tonight, I want every one of them caged! Understand?"

"Bah! You can't just cage these dragons! You need to send them away now!" said Mildew. He had come up beside Hiccup. The crowd agreed. "You're right Mildew! He'll cage them tonight, then in the morning. Hiccup will send them off the island." Stoik looked down to see his son's hurt expression. "I'm sorry son." he said. Toothless came up beside Hiccup and he absentmindedly began petting him.

He walked off and Hiccup looked down at his dragon. Then looked at the other teens.

"I can't believe we have to send them away!" said Snotlout. The teens were all at the Great Hall alone for the time being. "It's gonna be weird." said Astrid. I got use to Stormfly's face being the first thing I see every morning." She played with her porridge. "Every night before I went to sleep, Meatlug would lick my feet." the twins looked at each other. "Who's gonna do that now?!" Fishlegs layed his head down on the table.

"I volunteer Tuffnut!" said Ruffnut. Her brother sighed. "Whatever. What time should I be there?" he sighed. Ruffnut looked at him.

"A-and now we can't find a dragon for Valerie!" cried Fishlegs. Valerie looked at him. Astrid stood up. "Then when she and Hic-uh, um, well, it's gonna suck!" started Snotlout, but he stopped himself from going further. Valerie glanced at him apologetically, while Hiccup was just confused. As did Astrid. He was gonna say 'Hiccup,' right? What... Now he was certain that they knew something. "Come on guys. We'd better get this over with." sighed Astrid.

"This is the worst day of my life! We're never gonna see our dragons again!" cried Fishlegs. Hiccup stood up and walked away from the crowd. "We can't let that happen!" he said. He was determined to figure out a way to stop this. "Toothless is the best friend I've ever had." he bent down and started petting him. Valerie glanced at the others then walked over to him. "Oh, Toothless, I'm gonna miss you so much!" said a groggy voice. Mildew walked up to them. "You know what your mistake was? Thinking dragons could be _trained_! A dragon's gonna do what a dragon's gonna do! It's their nature." he said. Hiccup glared at the old man. Valerie grabbed his hand to calm him. It helped. A bit. "And nature always wins." said Mildew. He walked off.

Hiccup's hands clenched up as Toothless growled. A cold breeze from outside made the main fire pit go out. Absentmindedly, Hiccup looked at Valerie. She glanced back but seemed to be calm. That was good. She was probably still worried about the dragons, but seeing her so calm helped him relax a lot. He was still looking at her when Toothless relit the fire and a local thank him. Then it dawned on him. "Hey..." he said. He smiled when Valerie smiled as they both realised what Mildew had just said. "You know what?" said Valerie. She squeezed his hand in support. "Mildew's absolutely right!" finished Hiccup. "Come on bud!" he called to Toothless. The three of them ran out of there the instant they thought up a plan.

Once Hiccup was on Toothless, he helped Valerie on. "Okay, let's go!" said Hiccup. He sure hoped this plan worked. He also tried to refrain from getting that feeling when Valerie practically hugged him in order to stay on Toothless. His face still felt hot though.

They got to the cages in no time. "Don't close it!" shouted Hiccup. The teens looked up to see them flying down. Hiccup jumped off the instant Toothless landed as did Valerie. She helped him open up the cages. "We are NOT locking them up." said Hiccup.

"What happened?" asked Astrid. A small substance of hope was in her voice. "Did you change your father's mind?" she paused. "Or are we going behind his back again?"

"Uh...one of those." said Hiccup, glancing at Valerie who smiled. "Uh, the dragons are gonna do, what they're gonna do. It's their nature. We just need to learn how to use it!" he finished. The teens looked hopeful.

They all got on their dragons and headed out. First stop was Mulch and Bucket. "Snotlout! Scare us up some dinner!" shouted Hiccup once the two men noticed them. Hookfang dove down into the water. "Dragon attack!" cried Bucket. Hookfang managed to scare up a ton of fish into the nets. "Hey thanks dragon!" said Mulch as Snotlout whooped of joy. "That's right! That just happened!" he shouted.

"Come on, follow us!" Hiccup said. Astrid and Fishlegs followed him to Mildew's field. "Afternoon Mildew!" said Astrid as she came in on Stormfly and raked up the dirt with her tail. Hiccup came in behind with Valerie holding on to a barrel of seeds. She scattered them then let go of the barrel. "Time for the fertilizer!" said Hiccup.

"Fertilizer?!" said Mildew. He looked up to see Meatlug a few other dragons as well. "Okay Meatlug, let her rip!" said Fishlegs. In short, it was three o'clock. Mildew glared at them. "Smiled Mildew! We just saved you three months of work!" shouted Valerie. After the teens gathered up some runaway yaks, they landed. Fishlegs whooped just as Snotlout did. "That was awesome!" he exclaimed. Astrid looked at Hiccup. "How did you know that was gonna work?" she asked. He glanced at Valerie. "Because their dragons. And dragons are gonna do what dragons are gonna do. We just have to work with them, and not against them! You know who we should actually be thanking..." however, Hiccup was once again, interrupted.

"There they are Stoik! Those dragons don't look like they're in cages to me!" said Mildew. He walked over to them with the chief. "No. This is not what I asked for." said Stoik. He didn't look to happy.

Later, everyone, including the rest of the village, met up at the arena. The teens stood in the centre awaiting their punishment. Stoik and Gobber then entered. "Oh no! What's Stoik gonna do to us?" squeaked Fishlegs.

"I'm too pretty for jail!" sighed Ruffnut.

"Heh. Where'd you hear that?" said Tuffnut.

"You all disobeyed my orders. And there will be consequences." said Stoik.

"I told you we were gonna get in trouble. Ugh. You never listen." Astrid said through her teeth. Hiccup looked down. He then glanced at Valerie before speaking up. "Dad, if anyone's going to get in trouble, it should be me." he said.

"Nope. You all had a hand in this." Stoik started pacing. "You took over this place without asking. You release the dragons against _my_ wishes. Things are going to change around here. That's why-"

"You're getting a Dragon Academy!" shouted Gobber excitedly. The crowd gasped. "Gobber! I wanted to tell them!" said Stoik. Hiccup looked up in shock and happiness. He felt Valerie grab his hand and he looked over to see her smile. He couldn't help but do the same as the feeling came back full and strong.

"I'm sorry. You're right. Go ahead." said Gobber.

"Well you told most of it!" said Stoik. Hiccup and Valerie turned their attention back to them. "You could tell them the part about how proud you are of all of them!" said Gobber. Stoik sighed. "Gobber! Oi. Uh, Hiccup. Well...what he said." he said to his son. "You've all made me proud! This dragon training academy is for you!" he finished. He walked over to the lever and unleashed their dragons. Hiccup ran up to Toothless with Valerie. They petted him with their free hands. "Now all you have to do is train them." said Stoik. Hiccup turned around to him. "Not a problem dad. After all. I've got them." he said gesturing at Toothless and Valerie. Then he heard a coughing noise behind them. "A-and them too." he said gesturing at the other teens.

Dragons can't change who they are. But who would want them too? Dragons are powerful amazing creatures.

The next day the teens put up a sign for the academy. "Berk Dragon Academy. I like the sound of that." said Valerie. Hiccup smiled at her. "Now all we have to do, if find you a dragon." he said. She smiled. "I'd like that too." she began to head off to help out, but turned around. "But you know... I don't mind sharing..." she said. Then she left Hiccup staring off questioning what she meant by that.

**A/N:** Yay! You've finished it! Now you see that box with the words 'type your review for this chapter here'? Do that. Uh...please. See? I'm being polite. _Please_ do it. Now. How about now? Okay...now.

One person did it. See? It's not that hard!


	3. Viking for Hire

HTTYD: Viking for Hire

**A/N:**

Everybody needs a place in the world. Some people are born to theirs. Some people discover theirs...and some people, make a place for themselves. But then the world around them changes, and the place they made is gone.

"Every dragon has it's own unique abilities, that give it it's special place in the world." said Hiccup. The teens all had dragon lessons, or a new way of training, once the Academy was ready. Hiccup was the teacher since he started it all. Snotlout, and the twins stood on his left side with barrels in front of them. Fishlegs, Astrid and Valerie were on his right. "Which dragon makes the best welding torch?" asked Hiccup.

"Oh! Deadly Nadder!" shouted Astrid. Then Fishlegs chimed in. "It's magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun!" he said.

"Correct!" said Hiccup. He marked their points on the score board behind him. "Point to Team Astrid. The score is now one hundred to ten." he said as he turned around.

"And you _started_ with ten." Astrid said to the opposing team. Fishlegs laughed. Valerie just watched quietly, amused. Hiccup glanced at her. He liked the fact that she was quiet. It was good to have a quiet friend who didn't- "Oh yeah? Well the games not over yet!" shouted Tuffnut. That brought Hiccup out of his...state?

"Wait." said Tuffnut. "What team am I on?" Oh boy. Hiccup decided to move on. "Next question. What is the shot limit, of the Hideous Zippleback? Team Snotlout." he said. They thought on it. "I don't think they can count that high..." said Astrid. She didn't even try to whisper. Fishlegs giggled. Valerie looked at them. Surprisingly unamused. Hiccup found himself glancing at her again. Her reactions were just so different then what he'd seen on Berk. It was a nice change. His attention was brought back to the opposing team though, when she'd caught him looking. For one second, his face heated up.

"Oh really! Let's find out! Barf, Belch!" said Ruffnut. She called for their dragon. The two heads appeared behind them. They shot six times at the wall behind Astrid's team. "Looks like it's about three!" said Tuffnut. Ruffnut leaned over her barrel. "Told you we could count that high!" she mocked. Hiccup sighed. "It's six. You're half right. Five points." he said. He marked it on the board. "Yes! We're up to thirty!" shouted Ruffnut. She high-fived with the two boys. Astrid stood up from ducking under the barrel when Barf and Belch shot. "Alright. It's our turn. What happens when you shoot fire at the owner of a Deadly Nadder?!" she said angrily. She got angered a lot. Easily. Then she whistled.

Her Nadder, Stormfly, whipped her tail shooting out her weapons at the other three. They got pinned against the other wall. "No fair! She didn't give us time to answer." said Tuffnut. Valerie looked at her in disbelief. Snotlout jumped down. "Okay. What happens when I sick Hookfang on you?" he asked. Hiccup intervened. "Okay! Guys! That's enough training! So, we did some really good work here today." said Hiccup. Everyone ignored the fact that Snotlout had jumped onto Hookfang's head. "Prepare to face the Monstrous Nightmare!" he shouted. He patted Hookfang's jaw. It turned out that he shouldn't have done that.

Hookfang freaked out and set his body on fire. With Snotlout still on. "Ah! That's the third time this week!" he shouted. He plopped down on the nearest tub of water. "Aaaaaaaaaah! Sweet relief!" he said. The other teens walked over to him. "Hookfang never flames up when you're riding him. Is he okay?" asked Hiccup.

"Maybe he just realised who his rider is." joked Astrid. Valerie gave her a look which she shrugged off. She looked back at Snotlout. "Speaking of whom. Are _you_ okay Snotlout? You got burned um...well." said Valerie. Hiccup looked at her for a moment, then at Snotlout. He seemed taken aback for a second. "Huh. I've never gotten asked THAT before." he said. He then looked down in thought. "It's a weird feeling. Not sure if I like it. But, to answer- I'll live. I take after my father!" he said happily. Astrid looked as though she was going to say something insulting, but decided against it.

"And back to Astrid's statement. There's room in here for two." said Snotlout. Instead of her hurtful comment, she dunked him in the water instead. He gasped from the cold.

For the rest of the day the teens decided to hang around the plaza. That's where they found Gobber. "Come on. Gather around, one and all! You may think these dragon killing weapons have no more use! But, think again! This Long Sword, is could make a great butter knife! Uh, it's also great for making bread crumbs." he said as he demonstrated. The plate also broke in pieces. Hiccup grimaced.

"Moving on!" said Gobber. He searched for the next item. Hiccup felt Mildew, and kind of smelled him too, beside him. He fake gasped. "Well this is a dark day. A great dragon slayer peddling his weapons as kitchen utensils!" he said. He shook his head. Gobber had found a mace next. "How about this uh..." Gobber stopped as a fly flew around him. It landed on the table. "Handy fly swatter!" he said. He smashed the mace into the table. The table crumpled. "Uh, ha, also good for getting rid of unwanted tables!" he said. The fly flew away unharmed.

Hiccup grimaced again. Valerie, who stood on his other side, took his hand. He glanced at her and gave a weak smile. "Now for the lady of the house! When the man is off hunting, how are you going to protect yourself from home invaders? No problem when ya have big Bertha!" said Gobber. He tapped a wooden catapult. The catapult launched and smashed into a building. The crowd gasped and started to leave. Hiccup's grip tightened on Valerie's hand. "Uh, uh, wait! There's more! Uh- come back! You haven't seen everything yet! I haven't cleared out my dungeon yet!" stammered Gobber. He then turned to the catapult. "It's okay Bertha. We'll find a place for ya."

"Now it's hard to watch!" said Mildew. Hiccup felt that he might be crushing Valerie's hand. "Especially for you eh, Hiccup? The feelings of guilt must be tearing at your insides! I mean you put him out of business when you made your little peace pact with the dragons. _You _ruined his life! Bravo!" Mildew then walked away. Hiccup and Valerie stood there for a moment and watched Gobber. Valerie gave Hiccup a meaningful look. Hiccup looked at her and gave another weak smile with the warm feeling rushing back.

He glanced back at Gobber, then the two walked off themselves.

That night, Hiccup and Toothless sat on the rooftop. Hiccup dangled his legs over the edge. He sighed. "You know Gobber made this for me? He taught me everything I needed to know, to make your tail. I've gotta find some way to help him." said Hiccup. They heard a noise from down below. They went down stairs to see Stoik fall back into a chair. He rubbed his forehead and groaned. "Tough day a chief'en there dad?" asked Hiccup.

"I was all over the island! I married the Spencer girl to the Holdergarth boy at dawn, then down to some fields where some kids were tipping over yaks, then back up to the newly weds to settle a domestic dispute! I guess that honeymoon is over." said Stoik. He took a gulp from the drink Hiccup had brought him. Hiccup was about to place a log on the fire, when he spoke again. "Sometimes I wish there were two of me." he sighed. Hiccup, instead of placing the log careful in the fire, dropped it. "Dad- the-there are two of you!" he exclaimed. This might just work! "Was that another crack about my weight?" asked Stoik. Boy did he have the wrong idea. "No, I mean, Gobber! He can be the other you." Hiccup explained. Stoik thought on it. "Gobber?" he said. "Well he's way too busy making all of those dragon killing-" then realisation hit him. "Uh, well. He _use_ to be. Until you- which is great! Except for Gobber..." he said.

"Exactly my point!" said Hiccup.

"You know, that's actually not such a bad idea! I could use a right hand!" said Stoik. He got up and walked to the door. "Which works out great, 'cause, that's kinda the only one he has..." said Hiccup.

The next day the teen spent the day flying about the island. "Okay! A race around the island! We'll start and end here!" said Hiccup. They were at their usual cliff, Raven's Point. Snotlout had the idea of a race, and that actually sounded like fun. "Hold on!" he said though. They looked at him. "I say leave the Night Fury out of it." he said. Hiccup looked at him. "Well. He's the fastest dragon around. Everyone know's that he'll just win." said Snotlout. Oh. Yeah. "Yeah. What's the fun in that?" said Tuffnut. Hiccup looked at Toothless. He just innocently looked back. "Um...they do have a point." said Valerie. Hiccup looked at her. He restrained himself from sighing. "Alright then. Toothless and I will judge on who wins." he said as he jumped off of him. He held out his hand for Valerie who took it and jumped off as well.

Toothless settled himself down and Hiccup leaned against him. "Hey Valerie, the Monstrous Nightmare experience is awaiting- OW!" Astrid had thrown a good sized rock at Snotlout. She had good aim. "Or. The Nadder experience." he grumbled. Valerie smiled. Hiccup found himself staring again. "Well, actually. I've already been on the Nadder. I think I will give the Nightmare a shot." she said. Snotlout and Astrid looked at her in surprise. "Wha?" said Snotlout. He'd never gotten a good response before. This was new. Hiccup's eyes went wide. Was she serious? She was going with Snotlout? Of all people? Wait. Why did he care that much about who she went with? It was her decision. But still... there was an odd feeling inside of Hiccup. He couldn't shake it off.

Valerie walked over to the Nightmare calmly. She held out her hand and Hookfang instantly pressed his nose against it. Snotlout held out a hand for her and she took it. A twinge of...something swelled up in Hiccup's stomach. He didn't let it show on his face though. His face remained expressionless. Why did he care? It was just Snotlout. As Valerie hopped on, she wrapped her arms around Snotlout like she did with Hiccup. Hiccup, absentmindedly, crossed his arms. He felt Toothless look at him, but he ignored it. For the time being. He didn't even notice Rufftnut glance over and snicker at him. She then leanded towards Tuffnut who leaned in to listen. "I think Hiccup just wants Valerie to hug him again." the two stifled their snickers.

Quietly, Hiccup took a deep breath. Once he saw that Valerie was ready, he started the race. "Okay. All around the island, and back. Get ready! Set-" Tuffnut interrupted him.

"Wait, do we go on go? Or three?" he asked. Hiccup sighed. Everyone else did too. "Go!" Hiccup shouted. For some reason he just wanted to get this race over with. "You heard him, go!" shouted Astrid. She took off. "Hey! That's cheating!" shouted Snotlout. As the others flew off, Hiccup could hear Valerie's laugh.

As Hiccup watched, his face got incredibly hot. He rubbed the back of his arm on his forehead. "What was that about?" he wondered out loud. He leaned against Toothless. The dragon, upon hearing him, nudged him. "Huh? Oh. Toothless. Sorry. Just thinking out loud. I guess." he said. He didn't even know he had said it out loud. For the first time since the others left, he frowned. Toothless looked at his friend. He didn't look so well. Plus, he obviously _still_ didn't figure it out. Not even after what had just happened. What's a dragon gotta do? Get them alone togeth- hey. That could work. But again, Toothless was a dragon. What came with that, was the inability to speak to humans in their language. Ugh. Language barriers. That night he'd have to formulate a plan for those two. Basically everyone in the town, who'd met Valerie that is, had figured it out. Well, except for Astrid. She either didn't know, or was ignoring it.

Hiccup sat down on the ground, feeling defeated. He didn't know what the heck was wrong with him. He almost felt...sick. "T-Toothless...I-I don't know what's wrong with me. Lately..." Hiccup sighed in defeat again. "Oh forget it. I don't even know how to explain it." he said. Toothless looked at him in concern. He really was clueless wasn't he? Oh well. Operation Matchmaker it is then. Toothless layed his head down on his paws as he thought out the plan.

So. He didn't have that long before it was the so called 'Snoggletog' winter holiday they celebrated. He'd say about...a two weeks? At least? That would give Toothless plenty of time. Snowfall would be in about three days max. So, until Snoggletog, Toothless had to find ways to get Hiccup to realise what was happening to him. Hiccup's sudden movements made him jump a little. He was really deep in thought til then. "Deep in thought huh?" said Hiccup. "I wonder what you think about." he reached into the bag he brought with him and pulled out a cod. Toothless cooed a thank you as he gave it to him. "Probably food most of the time." Hiccup chuckled. At least he laughed. That was something. The other's couldn't have him getting depressed just before Snoggletog couldn't they? That would just be...well...depressing.

Suddenly a bright idea came to Toothless. Snoggletog. At that time it wasn't just the humans that celebrated something. Yes, yes, yes! That would be perfect! Sweet! Toothless wagged his tail in excitement. "Whoa, hungry were we? Well, lucky for you I brought two. Here ya go." said Hiccup. He pulled out the other fish and gave it to him. Toothless gobbled it down in no time. "Huh. I think I'm spoiling you. Oh well." said Hiccup. He sat back down and looked out on the horizon. This time he was the one in deep thought. Toothless only guess at what he was thinking about. Or uh, _who_ to be exact. He laughed on the inside. If only Hiccup knew.

After a few minutes, Berk was actually a fairly sizeable island, the other trainees came back. Toothless nudged Hiccup to get him to snap out of his daze. "Huh? Oh, right. Okay." he got himself ready to see who the winner would be. It was almost a dead tie between Stormfly and Hookfang. But Hookfang actually beat her by just a few wing beats. "Wow. Snotlout, you won! But only by a few wing beats." Hiccup called cheerfully. He honestly figured that Stormfly would win.

"Alright! We won!" shouted Snotlout. Astrid looked at Hiccup. "Sorry Astrid. You were second though. Hey I'm just as surprised as you are." he said. She shrugged. "Well. That was fun! I guess we should head back now. The sun's going down." she said. Snotlout, and the twins groaned. "Okay. _Mom._" said Tuffnut. Ruffnut turned to Astrid who handed her a rock. "I get to do it? Sweet!" she said excitedly.

"OW!"

The others couldn't help but laugh. Hiccup was surprised to see Valerie smile at it. So far form what he'd seen, she didn't like violence very much. She certainly was incredibly different. She was a breath of fresh air for Hiccup. Although, his stomach twinged again when he thought she wasn't getting off of Hookfang for the ride home. Again, he didn't know why he cared so much about who she rode with. But- he missed her. Yeah, he missed her. That's why he'd been feeling the way he had been. Suddenly, her movements snapped him out of his thoughts. She _was_ getting off of Hookfang. However, after hugging Snotlout which made Hiccup's stomach cringe. "Thanks for a great time Snotlout!" she said happily. Snotlout looked at her in surprise again. "Um...oh, yeah. Sure." he said. He helped her down off of the dragon. Then he looked at Hiccup. "I don't know how she didn't suffocate you. She's definitely stronger than she looks... oh, uh, no offense." he said that last part quickly. She just smiled at his compliment. "So...last one there has to eat that gross potatoe porridge for dinner!" Snotlout said to the other four. They waved to the two on the ground and took off. Toothless looked up. All three of them were finally alone.

Valerie then looked at Hiccup. One they made eye contact, she pulled him into a suffocating hug. But Hiccup didn't mind. Although that feeling came back again. He wished he knew what it meant. All of a sudden, Hiccup let out a sigh. Valerie pulled away and looked at him. "Hiccup? What is it?" she asked. Hiccup gazed at her. She was so...innocent. "Huh? Oh that. I um...well...I-I.." he stammered. He took a deep breath. "I've missed you Valerie." he said. She smiled causing him to smile. "I've missed you too. How about tomorrow we spend the whole day together? Just you and me? For old times sake?" she said. Hiccup beamed. Toothless had never seen his rider so happy before. It just made him want to smile too.

Toothless took this moment to his advantage. Part of step one. He nudged Hiccup into hugging Valerie. "W-whoa!" said Hiccup. "Toothless!" but, his annoyance instantly disappeared once Valerie wrapped her arms around him. She laughed as well, making him laugh. "Well. I see someone else likes that idea too." she laughed. As they parted, she reached down and petted Toothless. Then she stood up. "Okay. Let's go back before the food is gone." she said. Hiccup smiled and got on Toothless. She wrapped her arms around his waist. That familiar feeling instantly came back, but this time- Hiccup didn't mind. He smiled, and they took off towards the Great Hall.

After dinner, Hiccup heard his father come home that night. He came down the stairs to see him sitting in a chair, with two ice blocks against his head. Hiccup brought him a drink, and he took a sip. "Wow a, two block headache. Yo know, dad, I think you might, be being, a wee bit, rough. On Gobber. It was his first day. Tomorrow will be way better." said Hiccup.

"Oh it will be. For me, because it won't involve, Gobber." said Stoik. He took a gulp. "What are you mean?" asked Hiccup. Stoik set his mug down on the table. "He tried to fit a square peg in a round hole, and he sunk a ship, and named a baby girl Magnus! I'm not saying that she didn't look like a Magnus- but try telling that to her parents!" said Stoik. Hiccup scowled. "I can't believe you let him go!" he sighed. "Well, we've gotta help him!"

"_We_ don't have to do anything. _You_ on the other hand. Are going to be very busy finding a job for Gobber." said Stoik. What? But that would cut into...couldn't Hiccup ever catch a break? As depressing as he thought the situation was, he knew he needed to help his friend.

"You're bringing Gobber? Here?" asked Fishlegs the next day. They were at the Academy. "He's gonna be...great. Nobody know's dragons like old Gobber. He has spent a lifetime... ya know..." stammered Hiccup. "Studying. Them. If we can tap into that, we'll all be better dragon trainers." he finished. Suddenly he was thrown to the ground by the doors. He landed hard. "I'm back!" a happy voice that only belonged to Gobber hollered. "Did ya miss me?" The dragons stood on edge. Gobber had brought a few things with him. Valerie ran over to Hiccup and helped him up. He smiled then turned to Gobber. "First of all, welcome, and uh, second, uh, tiny question- why uh, did you bring your...you know..." said Hiccup. Oi. Why did this have to be his job? "Killing things? I thought maybe we could train them, by threatening to kill them." he pulled out a frightening axe. Valerie gasped in fear and covered her mouth as her eyes widened. Hiccup put his left arm around her, and held her hand with his right. He tried to comfort her. He tried to comfort her while Gobber was speaking. Astrid couldn't help but notice how cute that looked. "Aw, look at them." she whispered to Fishlegs. He just smiled. But that smile quickly turned to a frown when he turned his attention back to Gobber. "It's how my daddy taught me to swim!" with that, Gobber smashed down the weapon causing all dragons to jump in fear. "School's in session!" he hollered. The dragons then flew off in fear. Oh boy.

They all watched their dragons fly off. "Eh. I didn't like school either." stated Gobber. Hiccup sighed. He looked at Valerie. He knew she was thinking the same thing. What the heck were they gonna do about Gobber?

After a few hours, the other teens came back with their dragons. They were all sore and groaning. "What's wrong with you guys?" asked Hiccup. He stood up. He was just showing Valerie his drawings when they got there. "We've been riding our dragons for four hours! It took forever to chase them down after Gobber scared them away!" said Astrid. Hiccup sighed. "Yeah I'm sorry about that. I just don't know what to do with him." he said.

Their attention turned to the twins. Ruffnut was kicking her brother in the backside. "Do you guys always have to fight?" Hiccup asked glancing at Valerie. Ruffnut kicked one more time. "It's okay. I asked her to do that. I was just trying to get the feeling back." said Tuffnut. Then Ruffnut bent over like he was. "You gonna return the favour? Or what?" she asked. They continued what they were doing.

"Huh. I've flown for hours on Toothless and, I've never had a problem." said Hiccup. Astrid walked over. "That's because you have a saddle." she said. A saddle. Right! "Saddles!" shouted Hiccup. "Oh man! I've gotta find Gobber!" He was about to get on Toothless, but turned to Valerie. "Um, do you uh, wanna come?" he asked awkwardly. He held out his hand. Valerie smiled and took it. "Of course silly." she said. Hiccup smiled largely and they were off. They just Astrid talking with Fishlegs and Snotlout.

"You know, it's great that those two are catching up. They seem so close." she said while looking after them. Fishlegs and Snotlout looked at each other.

"Saddles?" said Gobber. Hiccup had found him in the armoury. He and Valerie were trying to persuade him to make them. It didn't take much. "I love it! I've got so many ideas! But not like these, good ones." said Gobber. He threw Hiccup's drawings at him and walked to the drawing board. "I'm glad you're excited. But I still think there are some things in my designs you could use. I mean, you did teach me everything I know." said Hiccup as he picked up his drawings.

"Exactly! That's why you should let Gobber do what Gobber does best. I've been making saddles since you were in diapers! In fact, I made your diapers!" said Gobber. Valerie giggled and Hiccup blushed out of embarrassment. "I-I-I-I know you know what your doing, but keep in mind. Every dragon is different. So you need to adjust the-"

"Hiccup."

"But-"

"Hiccup."

"But I just think-"

"Hiccup. I may have taught you everything you know. But I haven't taught you everything _I_ know." said Gobber. Shoot. He had a point. Hiccup gave up and he and Valerie left him to do his work. Once out side, they could hear him sing. "I've got my axe and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face! I'm a Viking through and through!" then he hummed the rest. Thankfully.

"You know he doesn't sing that song unless he's actually very happy." said Hiccup. Valerie took his hand. He gazed at her. "I think we did a good thing." he finished. He smiled, but then he frowned. "Hey um, I-I'm sorry about today. B-but tomorrow it'll be just us! I swear!" he said. Valerie laughed. "Hiccup. It's okay. I'm glad we helped him out." she smiled. Hiccup couldn't help but feel incredibly happy. He suddenly got the urge to hug her for a long time and never let go. He didn't want to lose her again. Instead though, he decided to head back home.

But, she hugged him anyways before splitting. Hiccup's face had never felt hotter. The sweet sent of apples returned to overpower him. He began to feel a bit dizzy, but it was sort of a...good feeling. After what seemed to be hours was only minutes, they parted. "Well. Good night Hiccup Haddock." Valerie said softly. She smiled, turned and left for the Hofferson's home. Hiccup smiled after her. Toothless wondered if his friend would need help balancing while walking home.

"Alright. This is an exciting day for all of us. Gobber has been working hard to-" Hiccup was in such a good mood the next day that he wasn't even bothered when Gobber nudged him out of the way. "I think they'll like to hear from the artist himself! I've made a lot of saddles in my day! Horse, donkey, and now dragon! But these saddles are special. They're like my children. That is if ya strap your child to a flaming reptile and road it." Hiccup gave a funny look at Valerie who held back from giggling. "So without further ado-" Gobber then pulled away the sheet that covered the large saddles.

"Uuuuhhh..." said Hiccup. The saddles were large, and looked heavy. One had large maces on the sides. "Wow. Gobber. This-this, certainly, _not_ what I had imagined...ouch..." Valerie had smack him before he said anything hurtful. For a girl who didn't like violence, well, Snotlout was right. She was stronger then she let on. "How could it be? I'm Gobber! Nobody knows what it's like to live in here." he clunked his hook hand against his hat. "Well. Um. I-is that?" started Hiccup but he couldn't finish.

"Yep! Flame thrower." said Gobber. He demonstrated his the noise made Hiccup and Valerie jump. "Didn't see that one coming did ya?" said Gobber. The two Vikings glanced at each other. "Uh, no. No. Not for dragons. They come with one built in. Actually." stated Hiccup. He glanced at Valerie. "I know. But can ya ever really have too much fire power?" said Gobber. Um. Yes. Yes you could. They looked over at the twins and the Zippleback who apparently had catapult like things on the front of their saddles. They each shot a small bolder but they both hit the dragon's head's and they plopped down. "Ow." said Ruffnut.

"Uh, catapults? For the twins? Um, not such a good idea." said Hiccup. That was true. "You can do it girl," they turned to Fishlegs and Meatlug. She was struggling with the saddle that had the maces. "Think light." suggested Fishlegs. They then plopped down as well. "Aw come on. You can't tell me my saddle is heavier than Fishlegs." exclaimed Gobber. Valerie looked down as Hiccup glanced at her. "My mom says I'm just husky." Fishlegs said quietly.

Snotlout couldn't even get his saddle on Hookfang. "Come on Hookfang. What's wrong with you?" said Snotlout. Hookfang glared at him and turned his head. "That's it! Someone's trading with me!" Snotlout said.

"Yeah sure. I'll trade my perfect dragon, for an angry oven." said Tuffnut.

Stormfly came back with Astrid from flying. "This saddle is actually pretty good." said Astrid. They looked up. "Wait til ya try the horn!" called Gobber. Horn? Uh oh. She tried it. The noise made Stormfly edgy and shoot out her sharp pegs from her tail. They pinned Snotlout to the wall. "Really? Again?" he said.

"So anyway. I-I-I- I think we're really gonna need to make a few-" Gobber interrupted Hiccup. Was he ever going complete a sentence around adults? "Changes! I'm way ahead of you! Got so many ideas! It's getting crowded up here! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" said Gobber as he clanked his hat again. Oi. Hiccup sighed inwardly and he and Valerie looked at each other.

Later that evening, Hiccup and Valerie stayed behind to clean up. Toothless layed down and watched them calmly. Although he huffed when Hiccup told him to move out of the way. It was just them. Valerie tripped and almost dropped the broom she was holding. Hiccup caught her before she fell very far. Toothless perked up. Maybe... "My Odin!" oh, never mind. The two quickly pulled apart and turned to see Stoik come in. "This place looked better when we were killing dragons here!" he exclaimed. That actually was true. Oh the irony of it. "Yeah, we sort of got...Gobbered." said Hiccup. He didn't know what else to say.

"Well, you know Gobber, he means well. He just- doesn't always _do_ well. So? What are you gonna do about it?" asked Stoik. Hiccup looked down while sweeping. "I'm gonna clean up his messes, and redo his work." he said. Stoik sighed. "Look. Gobber's like family." he said. Hiccup dropped the broom and turned around. "Yeah I know he is! That's why I can't say anything to him!" he said.

"No son! That's why you _have_ to." said Stoik. "It's not fair to you , and it's not fair to Gobber."

"Why do I have to say something to him?" said Hiccup. "You didn't! You just past him off to me!"

"That's what the chief does! He delegates! Look. I gave you this Academy because it's the best thing for Berk. Now you have to do what's best for the Academy. And I'm sorry son. But what's best is very rarely what's easy." said Stoik. Valerie ran up to them with Toothless as they began to walk out. She grabbed Hiccup's hand. He looked at her and smiled. "Now what about him?" asked Stoik. The two turned to see Snotlout still dangling on the wall. "Leave him. He's going for a record." said Hiccup.

"Enough said." said Stoik.

"Hey you never know bud, maybe Gobber actually looked at my plans, and is making the saddles better." said Hiccup. That night it was just him and Toothless. Valerie decided to get some sleep. That was fine with Hiccup. He wanted to uh, do what was best for her. A sudden explosion caught their attention. The shockwave blew out Hiccup's torch. "Or...not." he sighed.

"Gobber?" he asked once they were at the doors. Gobber turned with a weapon at the ready. "Don't shoot!" he screamed. Gobber lowered it. "I would never shoot you Hiccup. Unless I absolutely have to." said Gobber. Hiccup laughed, but it was an awkward laugh because he didn't know if Gobber was kidding or not. "Yeah. Still. If you could, please put the cross bow down, I know, _I'd_ feel better." he said. Gobber placed down. "You know, about the weapons. Maybe the catapults were a bit much for some of the dragons yesterday. So I've gone a different way. I've gotten rid of the two big ones-"

"Gobber that's great!"

"And replaced them with six little ones!" said Gobber. He held up- basically a spoon. Never in his life had Hiccup wished for someone to be at his side so badly. But, he wanted Valerie to have her rest. If this kept up he'd become the village softy. "Yeah. Um. Gobber we need to talk. Uh, I-I think it- might be time, for you to...take a little break."

"Incase ya hadn't noticed, the only time a Viking takes a break is to die."

"Maybe uh, 'break' is, the wrong word. What I mean is...I'm not sure things are working out." Yep. Never in his life had he wished for a girl to be at his side. Gobber stopped for a second. "Well get back to me when you're sure." he said. What? "O-okay. I'm sure." Hiccup sighed. "Gobber...I'm gonna need to take you off, the saddle project..." he said quietly. This time Gobber stopped for a longer amount of time. "Are you getting rid of me Hiccup?" he asked. "Well, I see why you had me put down the cross bow."

"It's just the saddles. We'll find something else for you!" tried Hiccup.

"I don't need your pity." said Gobber. "I've lost an arm and a leg. I think I'll survive losing a job."

"I'm really sorry Gobber." said Hiccup. He placed a hand on his shoulder, then turned, and left in silence. "Oh that was awful." said Hiccup once they were out of earshot. "I don't know what could be worse than that." but a loud angry dragon scream answered that thought.

They saw flames shoot out of the Great Hall's roof and several Vikings run away screaming. "Okay. It looks like I'm about to find out." said Hiccup. Suddenly, Snotlout came running to them. He breathed heavily. "I never...thought...I'd say this...but Hiccup!" Snotlout shook his cousin, "Heeeeeellp!" he shouted and pointed to the Hall.

Hookfang was out of control! He was randomly shooting fire and seemed to be in pain. "Everybody move away! The dragon's out of control! It's not safe here." said Stoik. The two teens plus Toothless ran up to him. "I don't know what happened! I was just rubbing his head. He usually loves that! But then suddenly he went crazy! My dragon hates me!" said Snotlout.

The dragon rubbed the left side of his head on the ground. "They do say a dragon starts to take on the characteristics of it's owner. I think that's what's happening here." said Fishlegs. Snotlout punched him. "Hey!" he said.

"Yeah I rest my case!" Fishlegs wheezed.

The dragon rubbed the same side of his head on the ground. "When was the last time he ate?" asked Hiccup. He looked at Snotlout. "Not for days." he said. Hiccup picked up a fish. "You hungry boy?" He held up the fish. Hookfang grabbed it and started munching. Then he spit it out. The fish landed in Stoik's beard. "Uh, sorry dad." said Hiccup.

"We've got to bring this dragon under control!" said Stoik.

"Don't worry I can do this." said Hiccup. He walked cautiously up to the dragon. He placed his hand on his nose, then his other just under the dragon's chin. Then he freaked out. Again. The dragon lit himself on fire. "HICCUP!" screamed Valerie, she had woken up from the ruckus. "Get out of there!" Toothless darted after the scene. "Way ahead of you!" screamed Hiccup.

Toothless got ready to attack. "Toothless! Stop!" called Hiccup. He ran up to his dragon and stopped him. "I've seen enough Hiccup. I'm sorry. We tried it your way." Hiccup sighed as Stoik went somewhere. Valerie came up to him. "Oh, Valerie. Oh um, sorry about-" Valerie interrupted him. She took his hand. "Hiccup. I'm just glad everyone's okay." she smiled, then frowned. "Mostly everyone." she looked at Hookfang. Hiccup squeezed her hand. "Hey, don't worry. H-he'll be fine. My dad went...uh, somewhere. To uh, hopefully find a solution. Uh, I hope." he said. Where did his father go? But, somehow that didn't matter as much as cheering Valerie up. She managed a small smile.

"Okay. Come on guys, hurry up think. What haven't we tried?" said Hiccup. Snotlout turned around looking anxious. "Snotlout, you have an idea?" asked Hiccup. Snotlout pointed. "Gobber." was all he said. They turned to see the man himself loaded with weapons. "Stand back. I came here to do what I do best." he said. Snotlout flinch. Valerie tried to calm him but it didn't have much effect. "H-he's gonna kill my dragon..." he said.

"No! He's not!" said Hiccup.

"Uh, yeah he is." said Tuffnut.

"You don't use that stuff to butter toast." said Ruffnut.

"Well, I mean we would. But _you _don't." said Tuffnut.

"Dad! You can't be serious! Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon!" said Hiccup. He ran up to his father. "I'm sorry Hiccup. But sometimes you have to fall back on the old ways." said Gobber. Hiccup looked at him. "But he's a good dragon!" said Hiccup.

"He's a good dragon!" cried Snotlout. Valerie placed an arm around his shoulders. "There's probably just something wrong with him." said Hiccup.

"There's definitely something wrong with him!" said Snotlout. He was almost in tears.

"We have to try to help him! We can't just get rid of him because he's having a bad day!" said Hiccup.

"A bad day for a dragon can be a disaster for us." said Stoik. "That's not a risk I'm willing to take...Gobber"

Gobber walked out towards Hookfang. He threw chains that wrapped around his wings and ankles. He tried to flame up, but nothing. "Ha! You're all out of fire!" said Gobber. He went up to the dragon. With a sword. Hiccup ran up and stopped him. "I can't let you do this!" he said.

"There's no choice." said Gobber. "It has to be done."

Then Hookfang lit up again. The dragon roared in their faces showing his teeth. "Do you see that?" said Gobber. Hiccup blinked. "I do." he said. Gobber put away his sword. "Time to put this beast out of it's misery." he said. He walked closer to him.

Astrid walked up behind Hiccup. "Hiccup! What are you doing?!" she said. Hiccup put up a hand to stop her. After a bit of struggling, Gobber was finally thrown off of Hookfang. Snotlout gasped. "You didn't kill him!" he said happily.

"For a toothache? What kind of lunatic are you?" said Gobber. He held up the giant tooth with a hole in it. The dragon calmed down instantly and crawled up to Snotlout and began to play with him. "Thank you Gobber! A bad tooth, I can't believe I didn't think of that." said Hiccup.

"That's because you're not Gobber! I've forgotten more about dragons than man will ever know. Well. Better go put the girls away." said Gobber.

"Gobber! Not so fast." said Hiccup. He and Valerie looked at him curiously. "I've figured out your job! You can take care of the dragon's teeth!" he said. "Who better?" Valerie smiled. Gobber thought on it. "I'll take it!" he said. He then took his things back to the armoury. Hiccup suddenly found himself in a hug. "Wha- Valerie! Uh..." he stammered. Gobber couldn't help but take one glance back at the scene. He was surprised to see how much colour appeared in Hiccup's face. Nor could he ignore the look he had in his eyes. He chuckled to himself. Then left for the armoury.

"You did it!" said Valerie. Hiccup nervously laughed. "Well, I wouldn't say that I did it. But, I helped!" he said. Valerie laughed as they parted. "Right. Well. You impressed me today Hiccup." she said. He smiled. He didn't see that one coming. "Y-y-yeah?" he said. He was nervous again. But why?

Near by, Toothless watched the scene with excitement. Come on Hiccup, you're smart, take the hint! Hiccup had this dreamlike state about him. Toothless kept wondering if he's figured it out yet. "Well. I should probably get back." said Valerie. Hiccup smiled. "Yeah, yeah. Now get some sleep! We have a big day tomorrow!" he said. He couldn't get any happier. He was going to finally help her find a dragon!

When the world around you changes, men find a way to change with it. And Gobber was one of those good men. In fact, he was one of the best.

**A/N:** Hmm...what does out mischievous dragon have planned for Hiccup? Find out in four chapters. He-he. I know, evil right? To cheer things up, let's play a game! I'm thinking of a word that starts with 'R'. Hm...

Now you see that box with the words 'type your review for this chapter here?' Do that. Uh...please. See? I'm being polite. _Please_ do it. Now. How about now? Okay...now.

Now?


	4. Animal House

HTTYD: Animal House

**A/N:**

On Berk the Vikings made peace with the dragons. They were finally living, and working together. It only took them three hundred years. There's one, slight problem...

They forgot to tell the animals.

"Yyyeaaaaahhh!" screamed Hiccup. He just loved the rush of adrenalin when riding Toothless. Especially at top speed when flying down a snowy mountain. He's never been more happy! This day was finally the day when he and Valerie could spend it together! Just them. Well, and Toothless. But that was okay. He'd very soon came to love the feeling that emerged whenever he was around her. He still didn't really know what it was, but, he didn't dislike it. He was perfectly fine!

Valerie let out a yell of joy and Hiccup laughed along. He felt like nothing could ruin his happiness! Toothless was also happy. They flew up and down as they followed low to the ground. Toothless let out a roar of joy and happiness and shot a fire ball in front of them. "Really bud? Again?" asked Hiccup. He didn't want to fly through one again. Plus, he didn't want Valerie to fly through one. Toothless just made a cooing noise. Oh, Hiccup really couldn't stay mad for very long that morning. He was just too happy!

The shot landed just ahead of them in the snow. As they flew over, the shockwave rocked them just a bit. They laughed though. Valerie hugged Hiccup closer which brought more warmth to him. Nothing could possibly ruin this moment! Nothing! He sighed very much relaxed, and very aware that both Toothless and Valerie could hear him. Valerie giggled. Hiccup smiled. "Relaxed are we?" she said. Hiccup chuckled. "Oh yeah! I've never been so calm or happy in my life! I love spending time with you and Toothless, it's just so ea-" he stopped when he heard rumbling. It was coming from behind them. He and Valerie dared to look back. He hoped to never see that in his life. "-sy..." he finished.

An avalanche! He looked forward and tried to steer them out of it's way. He couldn't budge the connector to the tail! "H-Hiccup..." said Valerie. She sounded scared. He never wanted to hear that again. He looked back. What he saw terrified him more than the avalanche. "His tail is frozen..." Valerie said. She said it so quietly that he almost didn't catch it. He felt fear rise up in him, but he knew he had to be strong. For Valerie. "I-it's okay. It's gonna be alright Valerie." he took a deep breath. "I'm gonna get that tail to work." he said seriously. "Switch spots with me."

"What?!" said Valerie. Hiccup started to move before she could stop him. He turned around and was facing her. "Hiccup-" he stopped her. "I'm going to fix it. Hang on tight. I don't want anything happening to you." he put his right hand on her shoulder. Her wild red hair flowed away from her face. Hiccup fell into a daze for a moment. One sweet moment. Everything went still. Hiccup gazed at her. He took in everything about her. Her red fiery flowing curls, her hazel/green eyes, with purple specks. Unique. Just like her personality. Sweet, kind, caring...gentle. Strong. He could never lose her. In that moment, she was the only thing that mattered to him. Strong and...beautiful. Beautiful...that was definitely an understatement. "W-wow..." he said under his breath. Although, he didn't actually notice. But he did notice her blush. He smiled. She looked cute when she did that.

From below them, Toothless smiled. Finally understanding is he? It only took a few days of interruptions and an avalanche. Speaking of which- "H-Hiccup...the tail." Valerie said calmly. He blinked a couple of times, then came out of his dazed state. "R-r-right, uh-" he cleared his throat from the dryness. He felt himself blushing. "O-okay. Y-you can do this. Ready Valerie?" he cleared his throat again. Ugh! It was so dry!

"Yes." she said faintly. Hiccup took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. Here it goes. Never let go. Promise me that." he said. She nodded. He carefully stepped onto Toothless' wing. "Be careful." she said. Hiccup looked at her. He nodded. He held on to her, and stepped around her. Hiccup bent down and crawled to the tail. "Come, on...come on..." he said quietly. This just had to work! It had to!

"Come- on!" he nearly shouted. He had to save Valerie! Oh, and uh, Toothless too. The avalanche was coming closer! "Hiccup! There's a trench ahead!" cried Valerie. That wasn't good. They could get buried! "Come on!" Hiccup yelled. Panic was starting to settle in. That wasn't good either. Soon they fell through the trench. Hiccup called out to Valerie as they fell. He didn't get an answer! Everything became dark and he thought he had past out. But soon he realised that he didn't. How? The impact of the hard, hard ice ground. He felt the ground rumble as the snow fell from above. He braced himself for that impact. It never came.

"V-V-V- Val-er-ie..." it was so darn cold though. His whole body almost felt numb. That could have been from the impact. It was probably both. It was so dark. "V-Valerie?!" he said more loudly. He had to know! "H-H-Hiccup... over here!" he heard her say! She was alright! Cold, but alright! She was also...right beside him? She was right there the whole time! He reached out and touched what felt like her shoulder. He then reached around her and braced her in half a hug. "Valerie..." he sighed with relief. "I-I'm sorry..." he said quietly. He could feel her trying to look at him. It was so dark though. "For what? We're alive. That's what matters." she paused for a moment. "Come here..." she said. She pulled him into a cozier hug. She was so warm. Yet so cold.

"W-where's Toothless? Toothless?" he called. Suddenly Toothless shot a fireball upwards. "Toothless?" said Hiccup. He shot again. Then again. He kept shooting in the same spot. "I see daylight!" said Hiccup. The light crept in around them. Hiccup looked at Valerie now that he could see her. Even though her hair was now a huge mess, and her face was red from the cold, she still looked just as amazing as she had a few moments before. Valerie was looking around when she caught him staring. Hiccup felt himself blush and glanced away. "Hey. We're gonna get out of here. Toothless? Too...Toothless. You protected us!" said Hiccup. He finally looked around. They were in a two second made snow cave. Thanks to Toothless.

"Yeah he spread his wings so the snow wouldn't crush us." said Valerie. The two looked up at Toothless who smiled down at them.

Toothless made the hole a bit bigger so he could fit through with two people on him. He carefully got down on all fours. The fireballs had melted the snow and once he was finished, it froze again. "Okay." said Hiccup. He and Valerie climbed aboard Toothless. Once they were ready, they were off! Safe and sound! Hiccup once again felt as happy as he did before. "Hey, you think we should tell the others?" he asked. Valerie laughed. Hiccup felt himself blush again. "Of course! This was an experience that the other dragon trainers should know about. What if it happens to them?" she said. Hiccup smiled. She was always thinking of others. She reminded him a lot of his mother.

"Well. This wasn't exactly how I planned the day to start out." laughed Hiccup. Valerie laughed as well. "Oh? So how what _did_ you have planned?" she asked. The blush on Hiccup's face grew. "U-um. Well...not a whole lot. Just that we spend time together. You know, finally." he said. Valerie hugged him close. "Sounds perfect." she said. As they flew, Hiccup felt more relaxed, but he was excited to tell the others what had happened.

"Guys! You have got to hear this!" said Hiccup. They were hanging out on a peak. "Yeah? What is it?" asked Astrid.

"Well, we were flying with Toothless down a mountain, and an avalanche started-" began Valerie. They were interrupted by a noise from Toothless. He was by the fire and was wacking the ice away from his frozen tail. The other teens gasped. "His tail was frozen! How did you escape?" asked Fishlegs.

"We'll get there. So, all three of us fell down this trench. Then- then, i-it was amazing! Toothless used his wings to stop the snow from crushing us!" said Hiccup. Fishlegs looked up in thought. "I've never heard of anything like that. Not even in the Book of Dragons!" he said excitedly.

"I know! I was incredible. It was as if his protective instincts, just- kicked in." said Valerie.

"And- if Toothless did it, who's to say that the other dragons won't! Who'd believe it! The dragons that we've fought for years, came to our rescue!" said Hiccup. He gave a thankful look at Toothless who gave a 'your welcome' look back. "Yeah, if it weren't for them, we would have frozen to death." said Valerie.

"You know what? You could have used your own bodies to keep each other warm." said Fishlegs. At that comment, Hiccup blushed so much, began to look like Hookfang. Valerie just giggled. "Hey Valerie, if you're still cold..." said Snotlout. He held out his arms. Astrid glanced at her and frowned. Then she bumped her elbow against a post which caused a huge pile of snow to fall on Snotlout. "Hey!" he said.

"Hey Hiccup!" he turned around to see the twins walking up. "Your dad's looking for you." said Tuffnut. Ruffnut put her hands on her hips. "He looked angry." she said. For some reason, they looked happy. Hiccup sighed. He stood up and walked over to Toothless. "He's looked angry since the day I was born. But I'm, sure, there's, no connection." he said. He hopped on Toothless and took off.

"There's a big storm coming." said Stoik. He, Hiccup, Toothless, and Gobber were at the Great Hall. "We might even be locked in! Our people won't be able to hunt or fish for months." said Stoik.

"But it's way too early for a storm. We're in the middle of winter. _Devastating winter_ isn't due for another month." said Hiccup. He wasn't sure if he was joking or not. "Not according to Gothi." said Stoik. Hiccup walked up to him. "But what am I suppose to do? I can't control the weather." he said.

"No. But you can control dragons. If they don't stop scaring the animals, we wont have any provisions to live on." said Stoik. Their conversation was interrupted by the doors opening. Mulch and Bucket walked in. Stoik walked up to them. "Any luck?" he asked. He took the bucket from Mulch. "Not a drop. And this is after yanking on that poor yak for three hours." said Mulch. He'd clearly given up. As did Bucket. Stoik looked shocked, then all the adults looked at Hiccup. He looked taken aback, and glanced at Toothless. "But it's not like the dragons are _trying_ to be scary. They don't even eat farm animals. They eat fish." he said.

"True. But they're huge, they breathe fire, and now that we've made peace with them, they're everywhere. The animals are terrified of them." said Gobber.

"Here's where you jump in and say, 'I'll fix this'." said Stoik.

"Okay. But, how long do I have before the storm hits?" asked Hiccup.

"About a week." said Mulch.

"No problem! More than enough time." said Hiccup. Suddenly Bucket whined and held his head. "Correction. Three days, six hours." said Mulch. Hiccup rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, okay, less time- might be more of a problem." he said.

The next day, the dark clouds hovered above Berk. Hiccup talked to the other teens about the storm, and the animals. Soon, the had all the animals and their dragons in the arena. "Okay, big boy you can do it." Hiccup said to a yak. He was trying to help them see that the dragons weren't scary. He was trying to get the yak to walk towards the dragons. "Okay," grunted Hiccup, "you'll really like them once you get to know them." The yak wouldn't budge. "The dragons look scary, but they're just big scaly reptiles." said Astrid.

"Just like Snotlout." said Tuffnut.

Snotlout grabbed him by his collar and made a fist. Then he paused. "You're the guy right?" he asked.

"No?" said Tuffnut in an unbelievable higher voice. Snotlout proceeded and punched him.

Hookfang and Stormfly snapped at each other. The movement frightened the yak and the animals all gathered at the opposite wall. "Okay. What if we looked at this from an animals perspective?" said Fishlegs. He got down on all fours and started sniffing like an animal. Hiccup glanced at Valerie unsure. "Oh hello mister dragon. I'm just a little sheep here. Walking, doing sheep things- baaaaaah! Baaaaaah!" he then looked at the others. "You know? He doesn't really seem so bi- aaaaah!" screamed Fishlegs. Hookfang had roared at him. Fishlegs crawled all the way to Meatlug. "Sorry, but I'm siding with the sheep on this one." he shakily said.

"But I've learned that once you have a positive experience with you're afraid of, it isn't so scary anymore. Okay! There you go boys, over here." said Hiccup. He guided the sheep to the dragons. "And that's what we'll have to do with these sheep. We gotta prove to them that they have nothing...to..." he turned around to see Hookfang blow flames at the sheep. Only one set on fire and it ran to Valerie. Hiccup also ran over to put out the flames. "Aarrrg! At this rate we'll never get any milk or eggs!" he sighed.

The next day, the sky was darker. "Aagh. Just as I feared." said Stoik. He ad Gobber were near the building where they stored food. "We haven't had time to stock the food storehouse." The two began to board up the doors. "If this storm is as bad as we think it is, we're never gonna survive."

"Not with this inventory." said Gobber.

"We're going to need everything we can get from those chickens and yaks." said Stoik.

"I'm not really comfortable putting my fate in the hands of a brainless bird, and a big wolly beast that sleeps in it's own dung!" stated Gobber.

"Well luckily our fate isn't in their hands. It's in my sons." said Stoik.

Meanwhile, back at the Academy, the animals were rampaging in fear. Hiccup nearly got ran over by them a few times. "Another way for the animals to overcome fear, is to show them that dragons are afraid of things too." said Hiccup.

"Remember Magnus the Merciless? He was scary guy." said Astrid. Fishlegs trembled. "I was afraid of him, until I learned that _he_, is afraid of the dark." Astrid finished.

"So during the day, Merciless." said Tuffnut.

"And during the night...Tuffnut." said Ruffnut. He punched her. "Hey! That's a real problem!" he said.

"I'm just saying, knowing he was afraid of something, made him less scary to me." said Astrid.

"Yes." said Hiccup. He picked up a couple of eels. "So, let's show the yaks, that dragons, are afraid of things too." He held up an eel to the dragons. They freaked. The yaks looked a bit shocked. "I think it's working!" said Valerie. He looked over at her and smiled.

Suddenly the eel in his right hand slipped out and slithered towards the dragons. Hookfang freaked out more, and turned. His tail accidentally whipped a sheep against a wall.

Hiccup groaned. Valerie walked up to him. "Don't worry." she said. Hiccup looked at her. "Worry? I-I-I'm not worried! Do I look worried?" he stammered. Suddenly her eyes caught his attention. He found himself calming down just a little. Astrid dealt with Hookfang. "Calm down! Get back over here!" she said. Hiccup picked up a couple of scared chickens. "You know what I'm learning from this?" he glanced down at the two he was holding. "Chickens are really well...chicken." he said. He put them down gently.

"What if we showed them how much they have in _common_ with the dragons?" suggested Fishlegs. Hiccup and Astrid looked at him. "Everybody out! The storm is here!" said a voice suddenly behind them. They turned to see Gobber. He started getting the animals out of the Academy. "Uh, uh, wait! We haven't made any progress with the animals!" said Hiccup.

"Your father wants everyone in the Great Hall!" shouted Gobber.

"Take the others, I need to stay and work with the animals. They're still afraid." said Hiccup. He walked up to Gobber. "Ya can't get eggs from a frozen chicken! We've got to get the animals in the barn!" he said.

Once back in the village, they saw a lot of problems. "Well, so much for the barn." said Gobber. The barn was frozen shut. "There's no other place to hold them!" shouted Mulch. The storm had already gotten worse. "The Great Hall!" shouted Hiccup. Mulch looked at him. "So, we're gonna have the dragons and the animals under the same roof?" he asked. "We know that won't work."

"We have no choice! Let's go." said Hiccup. They started moving. Suddenly a lightening bolt struck a tree causing it to fall. The tree made Stormfly jump back and she accidentally whipped her tail at Hookfang. He freaked out and sent the animals running. The teens tried to stop them, only to get trampled. "And where are you going?" asked Gobber. Hiccup was about to mount onto Toothless. "I'm going after them!" he said.

"Forget it Hiccup! You'll never get them rounded up in this storm!" said Gobber. Upon hearing that, Valerie ran up to Hiccup. "With Toothless I can. I have to try! If I don't, we starve to death." he said. He mounted onto Toothless. Before he could stop her, Valerie also mounted. "What are you doing? Go with the others, you'll be safe." said Hiccup. Valerie gave him a stern look. Hiccup stared at her for a moment. Then sighed. "T-t-there's no stopping you. Is there?" he said. She smirked. He sighed again. "No your father would kill me if I let you out here Hiccup!" said Gobber. Hiccup got ready with Toothless. "I'm sorry Gobber." he said. They then flew off.

Hiccup squinted his eyes. It was so cold they could start watering at any moment. Flying in to the wind didn't help at all. Toothless shot a fireball into the air and lit up the area. It was also dark. That made the vision even worse. Hiccup then realised that the others had followed them. "You find as many as you can!" he shouted. He didn't even know if they could hear him. "We'll heard them back to the Great Hall!"

"Can we swing by my house? I'd like to get my heavy coat!" shouted Fishlegs. Good they could hear him. "Check this out!" shouted Tuffnut. He slapped himself. "I'm so cold I can't feel my face!" Then Ruffnut took a swing. "Didn't feel it!" said Tuffnut.

"That takes all the fun out of it!" scowled Ruffnut.

Valerie leaned in to talk to Hiccup. Her voice was so quiet that they might not be able to hear her. "Hiccup! I see them!" she said. Hiccup glanced at her, then squinted ahead. "Where?" he asked. She pointed. "There they are! Come on!" shouted Hiccup.

Snotlout tried to round up the chickens, only he nearly hit a tree...and he _did_ hit Fishlegs. While Fishlegs tried to round up the sheep, at first it was working. Then Meatlug flew too low and they got stuck underneath a huge fallen tree.

Astrid gathered up the sheep and had Stormfly fire her sharp pegs around them as a fence. Then, Hookfang came roaring in and knocked down a bit of the fence. Releasing the sheep. "Snotlout! What are you doing!" screamed Astrid. Hookfang looked as though he was out of control. "You're all over the place!"

"You try chasing down chickens with a dragon that doesn't listen to you!" screamed Snotlout.

Then Astrid spotted some sheep that ran off from the heard. "Hiccup! Stray sheep!" she screamed. The weather was so bad! They could barely hear each other up there! Hiccup and Valerie flew towards the sheep entering a danger zone. Suddenly the little baby sheep slid off the side and down the hill! Towards the cliff! "Uh oh, Hiccup!" said Valerie. Hiccup gasped. "Uh, I see it. Toothless! Ah! Fly away sheep!" he shouted. Toothless saw the young sheep slide off of the cliff! He dove down as fast as he could. He managed to catch the sheep gently. Then they put the sheep in a safer place. "Good job Toothless!" said Hiccup.

The two adult sheep walked up to their young one and looked up at them. "Hiccup! This storm is getting worse, I can't see anything!" shouted Astrid.

"Okay bud, give us some light!" said Hiccup. Toothless shot in to the distance. "Stray yaks! Twelve o'clock!" shouted Hiccup.

"I see them! And they are huge!" shouted Tuffnut. The twins went down and picked them up. "I got the yaks!" he called.

"Put me down!" shouted a voice from below. That voice was very familiar. They looked down to see Stoik dangling from the Zippleback's claws. They dropped the two men near a yak. "Do I look like a yak to you?" shouted Gobber.

Toothless landed near them. Hiccup and Valerie got off and walked up to them. "You shouldn't be out here Hiccup!" said Stoik. Hiccup glanced down. "Dad...I-I'm sorry I let you down." he said quietly.

"It's not your fault son. I'm taking you back." Stoik said calmly. Hiccup still felt like he'd failed though. Valerie noticed this, and grabbed his hand. Hiccup looked at her. It was a strange feeling to feel warm when you're in the middle of a blizzard.

"Which way?" asked Gobber.

"Follow our tracks." said Stoik. They looked around. Snow was everywhere. They couldn't see a thing! "So much for that idea." said Gobber.

"Sir? What do we do now?" asked Fishlegs. They all began to shiver violently. Hiccup put his arm around Valerie and tried to warm her up. They then looked at Stoik. "Everyone. Come together." he said. They all huddled up in a small circle.

Outside the circle, Toothless watched them. He realised that this was the same situation that Hiccup and Valerie were in that morning. If they didn't have cover, they wouldn't survive the cold! Toothless shot up from laying down at that thought. He called for the other dragon's help. Together they slowly made their way over to the circle. They spread their wings and blocked out some of the wind. "What are they doing?" asked Stoik.

"They're protecting us." said Hiccup. He and Valerie looked at each other. "It's their natural instinct." she said. Hiccup smiled.

Then Toothless shot a fireball into the middle of the circle at the ground. Then all of the other dragons took one shot. After that, it lit up and warmed the circle.

"Oh. And um...we'll find you a dragon soon. I promise." Hiccup said to Valerie. They smiled at each other.

Toothless smiled down at the Hiccup and Valerie. Hiccup hadn't removed his arm from Valerie's shoulders. _Aw_! That's so- wait. Suddenly an animal sound caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder. The sheep! They were there! He bounded over to them. The two adults ran off scared, but the little one stayed. Toothless stood beside it and looked at it. It stared back. Toothless nudged it forwards toward the circle. The little sheep looked at him, then at the circle. Slowly, it made it's way over to it. It then called for it's parents to come.

Slowly, they made their way over. Along with the yaks and chickens. "Your dragons are really something son." said Stoik. Hiccup smiled up at him. His attention was soon turned to Valerie when she shivered. He pulled her closer to him and smiled. "Yeah. They are." he said. She smiled which made him smile. He wasn't quite clear on what that feeling actually was. But, he knew one thing for sure. He didn't want to lose it. Ever.

Toothless smiled and shot a fireball upwards.

Sooner than they thought, the storm had ended. They all gazed around them. The scenery was pretty. They began to head back. They arrived at the Great Hall safe and sound. As well as the animals and dragons.

"Ha ha! They're back! And they're alright!" said Mulch. The animals scurried into the building. "And- the animals are alright too!" said Bucket. Soon, everyone was inside nice and warm. "Uh oh, here come the dragons!" said Mulch. The two Vikings got ready for the chaos. Hookfang roared, and settled down to reveal sheep family on his back. They hopped off.

"Hey! Everyone!" shouted Astrid. They all turned and looked. They saw Stoik, Hiccup and Valerie walk in with the chickens. "The chickens are laying eggs again!" shouted Hiccup. The crowd cheered!

The Vikings made their peace with the dragons when they saw that they could trust them. Turned out that they actually had instincts to protect them! All of them. Life on Berk, just got a little warmer.

**A/N:** Chapter three! Yeah! Um, okay, you're probably annoyed with me. Yes, Hiccup didn't really quite figure it out yet. But don't worry my dear readers! Things will happen. Eventually. Ha-ha. Oh! And I had to rewrite the episode just a little bit. You know how in the original, after Fishlegs suggests that they find what they have in common, there's the egg thing? I had to cut that out because of the 'Gift of the Night Fury' thing. I'm making that apart of the series, so they haven't discovered the egg thing yet. Just so you know! **REVIEW PLEASE**

Too much fluffiness? Not enough fluffiness? What do you think of Valerie?

Now you see that box with the words 'type your review for this chapter here?' Do that. Uh...please. See? I'm being polite. _Please_ do it. Now. How about now? Okay...now.

Now?


	5. The Terrible Twos

HTTYD: The Terrible Twos

**A/N:** Chapter Four! Yay! Thanks guys for the lovely reviews! Makes me want to write more! :D

"Follow me!" said Hiccup. The teens were out riding as usual. It was a beautiful day in Berk. For a winter day that is. "Low level evasive manoeuvres! Come on bud!" said Hiccup.

When you're riding a dragon, communication, is key. You almost have to read each other's minds. Or else...

Hookfang veered to the left. "Hey! What are you doing?! Aaaaahh!" screamed Snotlout. Hookfang went lower than some branches...but not low enough. "Ow! Are you trying to kill me?!" shouted Snotlout. Hookfang just roared at him. "We gotta go back! I think we missed a branch." Snotlout said. Hookfang flew where he wanted. That much was obvious. Soon Hookfang flew upwards leaving Snotlout with branches on him. "Got it." he sighed.

And you have to have an open mind, because sometimes, your dragon knows better than you. Astrid and Stormfly came across some broken trees in their path. "Stormfly up!" said Astrid. Stormfly went down, but that sent Astrid upwards. She screamed until she landed on Stormfly on the other side. "You were right Stormfly. It was down." she said. "Phew. I almost died."

"_Almost_ died?" said Snotlout. He was flying beside Astrid. "I _would have_ died! Bleh..." he said. He took a twig out of his nose. "That's a good look for you." said Astrid. He looked at her, then put the twig back.

"Hey. Has anyone seen Fishlegs?" asked Hiccup.

"I saw him yesterday. Does that count?" asked Ruffnut. Hiccup sighed. "I'm sure he's somewhere Hiccup." said Valerie from behind him.

After the training, Hiccup went to look for Fishlegs. He saw the Gronkle stuck in a tree...as well as Fishlegs. "Whoa, there you are Fishlegs." said Hiccup. He landed Toothless. "Are you...okay?" asked Hiccup.

"I'm fine! Just hanging out...Not like I- _crashed_ or anything." he paused. "Okay. I crashed, there I said it." Hiccup tried to get him down but uh... "Oops..." he sighed.

"And there goes my dignity." sighed Fishlegs.

Hiccup pulled on his boots but fell back since he wasn't budging. "Yeah, you're pretty stuck. I think I know how to get you down. But, you have to stay perfectly still." said Hiccup.

"Why?" asked Fishlegs. "What are you gonna do?"

"Careful bud...He's...not wearing any pants." said Hiccup.

"Huh? Wait a second! What does my lack of pants have to-"

Toothless shot a flame at the tree just below Fishlegs. He shot upwards and Toothless ran to catch him. "Thank you." he said quietly. He turned to Hiccup. "I- believe those are mine..." Hiccup threw him his pants.

"Now. What are we gonna do about Meat-" started Hiccup. Meatlug fell from the trees onto the ground with a crash. "Lug..." he finished.

Fishlegs walked over to the dragon. "Can you not tell the other's that Meatlug broke the trees?" he whispered the next part, "She's sensitive about her weight."

"How did this even happen?" asked Hiccup.

"Hey. I just realised something." said Fishlegs.

"What?" asked Hiccup. He hoped it was about his question and not off topic. "Valerie's not here. She usually flies with you. Um, I thought she was here. That was part of the reason I thought I lost my dignity- earlier. I mean. I still lost it. But...well." said Fishlegs. At the thought of her, Hiccup blushed. "Huh? Oh. She just wanted to take a break." he rubbed his left arm, "You know. From flying." he finished. Fishlegs gave him a look. Hiccup felt awkward for some reason, so he changed the subject. "Anyways-" he said quickly, "back to my question. What happened?"

"I don't know. I was just flying along, taking notes on the Flora and Fauna- typical guy stuff- then something weird jumped out of the bushes! It was like some kind of, like- like a flaming squirrel!" said Fishlegs. Hiccup and Toothless gave him a look. "Really? A flaming squirrel." said Hiccup.

"Or chipmunk." said Fishlegs. Hiccup just looked at him. "Or some other flammable rodent. I don't know Hiccup! It scared us." said Fishlegs. He hopped on Meatlug. "Isn't that enough for you?" The two of them then flew off.

Hiccup turned to Toothless and laughed. "Did you hear that? A flaming squirrel." he said. He hopped on Toothless and they were about to take off. "Everyone knows there's no such thing as a-" suddenly just before they took off, something- well, on fire shot out in front of them! "FLAMING SQUIRREL!" Hiccup shouted in surprise. He fell off of Toothless onto his back, but quickly flipped over. "Whoa!" he exclaimed.

"Wha...you saw that right?" Hiccup asked Toothless. He cooed in response. That thing was weird alright. He peered over the log that the thing had burnt slightly. In a small stone cave, he saw- a dragon? It was small. Hiccup crept forward so he didn't scare it. He bent down slowly. It wasn't a dragon he'd seen before. "Hey little guy. Who are you?" he asked it. The dragon hissed and hid in the cave. "Whoaaa! Settle down big fella!" said Hiccup. "I've never seen anything like him." Toothless came over to take a look.

He observed and sniffed, and didn't like what he saw. He stepped back and glared at the small dragon. "You're not helping." said Hiccup. "I think we may have discovered a new species."

Toothless walked behind Hiccup and pushed him away from the dragon. "Whoa, hey Toothless! What has gotten into you?" asked Hiccup. Toothless was defensive of strangers, but this was- strange. "Looks like he's hurt." Despite, Toothless' attitude, Hiccup walked back to the dragon. "Don't be afraid, I'm a friend." he said. He knelt down next to the dragon. "Here." said Hiccup. He reached into his vest and pulled something out. The dragon hissed. "It's okay. It's just a little dragon nip." he said.

Before they got close, Toothless hissed at them. "Hey-" the small dragon climbed up on Hiccup for protection. "Play nice." he said to Toothless. "Aaargh!" screamed Hiccup. That hurt. "Little dragon! Big claws!" he stood up. "Come on, let's go. We'll fix you right up." They flew to meet the others at the Academy.

"This is so exciting! It's a whole new species!" exclaimed Fishlegs.

"Doesn't look like a flaming squirrel to me." stated Tuffnut. Fishlegs looked over his shoulder. "We have no idea what it's capable of!" he said. "There's no telling what it might do.

Tuffnut bent down and came face to face with it. "Flame! Do it." he said. The dragon leapt onto him and bit his nose. "Aah! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" he shouted. He pulled the dragon off of him, the dragon looked at Ruffnut, then attacked her as well. "Hey, that is funny!" said Tuffnut.

The dragon hopped off of Ruffnut. "Come on you guys, this is serious. We have to figure out what to do with him. He's hurt." said Hiccup as the dragon hopped in his arms. Tuffnut rubbed his nose. "_He's_ hurt?" he said.

"He's just really scared. He'll settle down." said Hiccup. Fishlegs walked up to him. "Um, new species? Remember? We actually _don't know _what he'll do." he said. Astrid sighed. "Well somebodies gotta take him home." she said. The others stepped back leaving only Hiccup. "Well big guy- here's your somebody." he said to the dragon.

"No! No! No!" said Stoik that evening. His son had surprised him with a new family member. "He's not staying here. I've got a _one_ dragon limit!" he said. Toothless watched them with curiosity. Was he going to get rid of that pesky dragon? He didn't trust him. He seemed like a troublemaker. "Oh come on! He's not a very big dragon. Think of him more like- a flaming squirrel." said Hiccup. Toothless snorted, but no one heard. "Don't want one of those either." said Stoik. Toothless was beginning to have some hope after all. Stoik placed some logs in their fire pit in front of Toothless. "Toothless? What are ya waiting for?" said Stoik. Toothless cooed, and began to bring up a fireball.

But _somebody_ beat him to it. They jumped back in surprise. Toothless stared at him. "Ah, looks like you got torched." said Stoik. Toothless glanced at him, but glared away as he 'hmphed'. Oh no. No way on Berk would Toothless get out torched! Not ever!

"That's his name by the way- Torch." said Stoik as he walked over to him. Hiccup looked at him. "S-so he can stay?" he asked. Toothless looked at them. Oh no. No way! He can't-

Stoik laughed. "Well, we can't throw him out now, we just named him!" he said. Toothless glared again. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. Aaarrg! This was happening!

Later that evening, it was dinner time. "Okay, the hundred for you," said Hiccup. He placed a barrel of fish in front of Toothless. "And the one for you." he said to Torch. He put it in the bowl. "There you go boys, your first dinner together." Toothless watched him go leave into the kitchen. He then licked his lips. Hm, dinner time! One of his favourite times of the day! He looked down.

It was empty.

He looked over at Torch. He was looking awfully happy. Arg! That dumb dragon! _"Hey!"_ he roared at him. Torch scrambled away. _"Bully!"_ he said.

"Whoa, Toothless," Toothless turned to see Hiccup pick up the barrel. "You were sure hungry tonight!" he said. Toothless turned to Torch. _"I don't like you!"_ he said. Torch just laughed.

This was going to get difficult. Wasn't it?

"Okay Torch. This is where you're gonna sleep." said Hiccup. He gestured to a small stone platform next to Toothless' much larger one. Torch looked at his bed, then at Toothless'. Of course, he scampered over to Toothless' bed. Toothless hopped onto it next to him and glared. _'I'll get you...grrr!'_ he thought. He moved in close, and bit on to his tail, without teeth. Though, he didn't know why he bothered. He flung the dragon off of his bed and turned back to see...him right back in the same spot.

"Aaaw." said Hiccup. Ugh. Yeah right. The nuisance. "Look at that. He's made himself a home." Toothless just glared at the small dragon. "Toothless you don't mind, sharing your bed for the night, do ya?" It was then that he looked at Hiccup. Share. Share? Share! With that- _thing!_ _"Never in my life!"_ he shouted, although Hiccup couldn't understand him. Hopped up on top of a beam above the bed. Hiccup sighed and went to his own bed.

"I hope he sleeps through the night, he barely ate." he said.

Toothless looked at him, well, glared at him. _"He ate _my_ fish! I can't even eat that fast! You know that! Aarrrg!"_ he said.

"And you- go to sleep." said Hiccup. Toothless 'hmphed' again. He had to find a way to get rid of this pest. He took one more look at Hiccup, who was now asleep. He glared. _'Good luck with your friend there. My plans are postponed._' he looked at the little dragon on _his_ bed. He snorted . First, he had to make a new plan. For someone else.

Soon though, he fell asleep. But it wasn't long before he was awakened by a noise from off in the distance. What was- Toothless looked down at Torch. He was sleeping peacefully. Toothless glanced at Hiccup to make sure he was in a deep sleep. He was. He dashed out the window in pursuit of what the heck that noise was. It sounded like a- dragon. A large dragon. He got himself on top of a small cliff and stared out in the direction of the noise. In the distance, he saw that some trees had been set on fire. He knew it! A dragon! That's the place where they found Torch! Ugh. Torch.

The next day, the teens met at the Academy to learn more about Torch. Much to Toothless' pleasure. "Alright Torch. Let's figure out what you are." said Hiccup. He set Torch down on the table they'd brought. "Oh this is so exciting! Documenting a whole new species!" said Fishlegs. "Learning all about it!"

"Wait. Learning?" said Tuffnut. Ruffnut crossed her arms. "No thanks!" she said. For once, Toothless agreed with them. "There's nothing in the Book of Dragons that looks anything like him." said Hiccup.

"We even get to determine what's called! Whoa! That-that is a really big responsibility. I don't know if I'm ready for that!" said Fishlegs. Snotlout ran up beside him. "I am! I'm gonna name the snot out of it!" he said proudly.

Valerie measured the wingspan of Torch. "Twenty inches for the wings." she said.

"That's a big wingspan." said Hiccup. Snotlout ran up to them. "Bigwing! Bigspan- Bigwinspan!" he shouted. Oh boy. "May I have the honour, of administrating the claw test." Fishlegs said calmly. He held out a sheet of paper for Torch. "Look at these talons! They're razor like-" said he said.

Snotlout ran in front of him. "Sharpclaw! Razorfeet! Razorsharpclawtalonfeet!" he shouted. Fishlegs sighed quietly. "Hold on. Is he serious?" asked Tuffnut. Fishlegs walked up to Hiccup. He was looking through the book for anything somewhat related to Torch. "You know what's next don't you?" he asked him. Hiccup looked at him. "No. Not really." he said.

"Only the single most important test to determine the dragon's reaction to eels." said Fishlegs. The look on Hiccup's face told him to continue. "The Eel Reaction Test!" he finished.

Fishlegs took out an eel from the barrel they brought. He held it up and all of their dragons scampered away. He held it up to Torch. He looked intrigued. He sniffed it, then...he ate it!

"He ate it! He ate the eel!" exclaimed Fishlegs.

"Cool. He's so different." said Valerie. Hiccup smiled. "Kinda like you." he said out loud. She gave him a look. He realised that he'd said it out loud and blushed."I uh- I-I-I mean...not that you're uh-ah!" he said. Snotlout had pushed both him and Fishlegs out of the way. "Eeleater! Come on, that's perfect!" he said. Hiccup sighed. "Um, a-anyway. Fishlegs, has there _ever_ been a dragon who wasn't afraid of eels?" he asked him.

"Never in recorded history!" he said dramatically. "We are in uncharted waters my friend." Hiccup looked at him, then petted Torch. "You hear that Torch? You're one of a kind." he said. Torch made noises in return. "Now we need to get it to fly." Fishlegs said thoughtfully.

"Maybe if Torch saw Toothless fly." said Hiccup. "Toothless!" he called. Toothless was outside of the Academy on a near by cliff. "Let's take a ride bud!" said Hiccup. Toothless eyed them, and grumbled to himself, but didn't move. "Toothless!" shouted Hiccup. Snotlout laughed and walked up to Hookfang. "Hahahahaha. So much for the _dragon trainer_! We've got this!" he said. He jumped onto Hookfang. Torch made a kind of high pitched noise. "Watch and learn." said Snotlout. They took off. Fast. "Hooookfaaang! Ah!" screamed Snotlout. They flew wildly and Snotlout screamed for most of it. They even flew, or fell, past Toothless, who glared out in the distance. He didn't even flinch when they went past. After a minute, they came back. Snotlout seemed out of breath from screaming.

"Okay...your turn...but don't think you have to live up to that." he said. He got off of Hookfang and joined the others. Torch jumped down to the ground. They all gathered around. Torch started to walk awkwardly in circles. "What is he doing?" asked Ruffnut.

"I think something's wrong." said Valerie. Torch squeaked. "Oh man! We broke him!" sighed Tuffnut. Hiccup stared at it. "Maybe he can't fly." he said. He grew a little worried at that thought. But then...

Sparks came out of nowhere around it's mouth, and it flew faster. In a circle. The sparks became more intense, and soon, that's all you could see! Just a ball of sparks flying fast around the Academy! Torch stopped near the roof in the middle and spun down. Once he stopped, they all looked amazed. "You," said Hiccup, Torch jumped in his arms, "are one incredible little dragon!" he finished.

Near by, Toothless watched out of the corner of his eye. "Whoa. Look at that burn mark!" said Ruffnut. On the ground, there was a kind of spiral shaped burn mark. "Huh. And look at this burn mark." said Tuffnut. He held up his uh, smoking arm. "Did you see how it flew?! It spun like, like a typhoon!" said Fishlegs.

"And he came back just like a boomerang!" said Astrid.

"Hotspinner! Flamingcomebackerer!" Snotlout said loudly. Fishlegs shook his head. "No. Typhoomarang." he said dramatically. Snotlout gave him a look. "Typhoomarang? Nah I don't get it." he said. How many times did they have to say it? Oh boy.

That night, Toothless perched himself on top of the Haddock's home. He wasn't taking any chances. He knew something was out there. Most likely...searching for Torch. He just knew it. He growled stubbornly as he heard Hiccup's voice.

"Okay Torch, hold still." he said. Torch screeched. "I'm trying to draw you." Torch bumped his head against a post and shook it off. "You're getting your own chapter." Toothless huffed. It wasn't that important. He then rolled his eyes at Hiccup's 'roar's with Torch. Really? Gee. _'I'm sure Valerie would be _soooooo_ impressed.'_ he thought. He had to deal with this little devil and fast. How could Hiccup trust creatures so easily? That wasn't one of Toothless' strong points. Amongst Hiccup and Torches roars, Toothless heard a much more threatening one. His ears shot up. Was that- he looked out towards the flaming trees. Yup. That was it alright. He was right! Man, he had to get Hiccup to check it out!

Toothless bounded through the window and up to Hiccup. He came in so quickly that he startled Hiccup and he fell backwards from his chair. He also dropped the charcoal he was using to draw. "Toothless! Look what you did." he said. Humph. _"Ah you're the cluts. You've got to see this!"_ said Toothless. He sighed inwardly. He wished he could speak the human language. Just once! Ugh! _"But I... come on... you have to believe me!"_ he said quietly.

"And now I've got to get more charcoal." sighed Hiccup. He made no indications to Toothless' sounds. "Toothless. You behave yourself while I'm gone." he said. He meant it. He meant it! Gah! This was so frustrating!

Torch started to follow him. Toothless growled. _'Stay. Away. From me!'_ he thought. Torch crawled up to Hiccup to get him to stay. "It's okay big guy. Be right back." said Hiccup. Torch looked at Toothless once he was gone. _"Don't come near me you-"_ a huge roar interrupted Toothless. It was the dragon! Toothless ran to the window, and his tail accidentally smacked Torch. Torch screeched at him but he didn't hear. Then Torch bit Toothless' tail! _"Ow! Oh no you didn't!"_ roared Toothless. He glared at the little guy. _"It's on!"_

Torch ran around, and Toothless chased him. Toothless then got on to his bed, and Torch blew a small flame at him. The bottom of his bed started burning.

Downstairs, Hiccup sniffed. Smoke? Oh no. He looked up to see fire coming from his room! "Toothless!" he yelled. Good thing his dad wasn't home yet. He saw his dragon on his bed and he when he moved he put out the flames. Torch jumped into Hiccup's arms. "What-what is going on here? Toothless, why did you do this? What is wrong with you?" he said. What?! Only for two seconds Toothless showed that those words hurt. Then he roared at him and ran out the window. "Toothless!" called Hiccup. What the heck was that about? "Wait!"

Not a chance. Toothless was going to find that dragon.

"I-it's okay big guy. He's starting to worry me too." said Hiccup. He had to get advice.

Toothless ran and ran. He didn't stop. He didn't stop until- he saw two other small dragons exactly like Torch! He knew it! He knew it! Man! When he got blamed for things he didn't do-

A squeal caught his attention. What was that now? A huge wild boar ran out of the bushes and towards the little dragons. The boar ran until he came to...the mother. Toothless' eyes went wide. That mother was huge. Scary even. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no- he had to get out of there! In a hurry!

The dragon blew huge flames while spinning in a circle as Torch did in the Academy. The boar was trapped. Toothless had to get away.

The next morning, Hiccup and Valerie went to Gobber for advice about Toothless. "It's weird. It's like. Toothless is jealous. Which is great. So. My first girlfriend is a dragon." sighed Hiccup. Valerie smiled. "Huh. I would have thought your first girlfriend would be-" started Gobber.

"Yeah?" said Hiccup.

"Never mind. Another thing we have in common." said Gobber. Hiccup looked at him funny. He glanced at Valerie who shrugged. Hiccup looked down in thought. Then Torch came up to him and he started petting him. "Something must be going on under the surface." said Gobber. Hiccup looked at him. "Dragons are complex creatures Hiccup. They operate on many emotional levels. Me? I've only got the one." Hiccup thought on this. Dragons were complicated. Sometimes.

Suddenly Toothless came out of no where and hissed at them. "Whoa, okay Toothless!" said Hiccup. Toothless hissed again, and stomped in a circle, then hissed again. "Y-you see? This is what I'm talking about." said Hiccup.

Valerie put a hand on his shoulder. "Did...did you ever think that maybe...you trust too easily?" she asked him. Hiccup looked at her. Huh? "Trust...you mean, Toothless?" he asked. Valerie looked down for a moment. "No...Hiccup. Not him." she said calmly. Hiccup stared at her. Torch? But-

Toothless roared again. "Toothless settle down!" said Hiccup. Torch jumped from his arms and landed in front of Toothless. Toothless took this to his advantage. If not now, then when? He snatched Torch up in his mouth, and took off. He knew fully well that Hiccup and them would come after him.

"Toothless! Uh, Gobber! Grab him!" shouted Hiccup. Gobber ran in front of Toothless. "You want to dance big boy? 'Cause I've got my dancing shoe on!" he said. Torch struggled to get free. His back shot sparks at Toothless and he soon was free! He flew off and away from the dragon.

Gobber grabbed onto Toothless' tail, but all that did was get him dragged around. Finally Gobber got dropped off when he got rammed into some steps. He shook his head to clear the dizziness. Then something caught his eye...

"My pan pipes!" he said happily. He grabbed it and stood up. "Now I can get the band back together!"

Torch ran behind Hiccup and Toothless stopped in his tracks. "Toothless! Back. Down." Hiccup said. They both glared at each other. The situation was intense. Valerie wasn't sure what she should do. Try to calm Hiccup? Calm Toothless? Get Gobber to stop playing his pan pipes?

"Not. Helping." Hiccup said quietly. Gobber stopped. "Sorry." he said.

"I don't know what's gotten into you. But I don't like it." said Hiccup. Toothless glared, and stormed off. Gobber started playing again, but he caught Hiccup's eyes, and stopped.

A few moments later, Hiccup and Valerie were on Toothless. He was headed somewhere that's for sure. How could the tell? He was angry, going fast, and he was in control.

"Toothless! The cove, is this way!" shouted Hiccup. That's not where he wanted to go at all. "Where are you going?" This time Hiccup could feel Valerie suffocating him. "No! Ugh, we're going to the cove! You're-gah, you're scaring Valer-ie! Toothless!" Hiccup adjusted the tail and they headed back.

The instant they landed in the cove, Hiccup and Valerie jumped off. "Okay. You've gotta stay here." said Hiccup. Toothless gave him a sad look. He looked at Valerie who seemed to understand him. "I never thought that bringing Torch home would lead to this. I've got to separate you two until I can figure this out." said Hiccup. The two began to walk away. Toothless ran in front of them. "Toothless. This is serious. You've got to stay here." said Hiccup. He tried to step aside, but Toothless blocked him.

"Okay. A crazy out of control dragon blocking our way out." he said. Valerie gave him a look, but he pretended he didn't see it. He made a gesture to go one way, and Toothless followed. Then he tricked him, grabbed Valerie's hand and went the other. "Or not!" he said. He and Valerie carefully climbed up the rocks. Once safe knowing that Toothless couldn't get to them, Hiccup glanced back. He sighed, and they kept going.

"Hiccup." said Valerie. Hiccup didn't look at her. "Hm." he said. Valerie sighed. "Hiccup. Look at me." she said seriously. She grabbed his hand and he stopped walking. "Look at me." she said again. Hiccup tensed up. He slowly turned around and looked at her. He didn't like what he saw in her eyes. Disappointment. "Hiccup. He was trying to show us something. Hiccup I know you see people as an open book, but once you have it open- you've got to read a few pages too. I know you can do that. But something's stopping you. The truth can hurt sometimes, but it's good to know." she said. She took his other hand and held both. He stared at her.

"Hiccup?" she said.

Hiccup looked at the ground. "I-I-I..." was all he could say. He knew she was right. She's always right. That's Valerie. She'd helped him out many times before. Why should he doubt her? He didn't. He heard her sigh. He looked up as she brought him in for a hug. "I'm glad you're here..." he said very quietly. He'd never spoken that quiet since he was five. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his head.

Later that night, Hiccup layed awake in bed. He kept thinking about what Valerie had said. He looked at Toothless' bed at Torch. Torch. He seemed so innocent. That's what he wanted to believe. He wanted to see the good in dragons, and people. He sighed in defeat. She was right. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

"You did the right thing with Toothless." Astrid said the next day. They were all at the Academy, minus Toothless. "He'll snap out of it." she said. He stayed quiet. He didn't get much sleep after all. "Yeah but what if he doesn't? Then you won't have a dragon to ride. And if you don't have a dragon to ride- then you can't be the leader of the Dragon Academy! Ha!" said Snotlout.

"Then I take over." said Astrid. "Do ya really want that?"

She looked to see the twins come in with Barf and Belch. "You guys won't _believe_ what we just saw!" said Tuffnut.

"Excuse me? We're having a power struggle." said Snotlout.

"We're not. Having- a power struggle." said Hiccup.

"The whole forest. Ultimate destruction!" said Tuffnut.

"It was beautiful!" said Ruffnut. Only she would find THAT beautiful. "The whole thing was torched!" Torched. Uh oh. "Torched..." said Hiccup. He glanced down at Torch, then at Valerie. Then looked back up. "Show me." he said. They flew off. Hiccup shared with Astrid as Valerie shared with Fishlegs. Once they landed, they saw a very familiar burn mark. Only ten times larger.

"Like we said. Ultimate destruction." said Ruffnut. She was right. "We've seen that burn mark before." said Hiccup.

"Not this big." said Astrid.

"You know what this means..." said Fishlegs. "Big burn mark-"

"Big Typhoomarang." finished Hiccup. Why didn't he see it coming? This was what Toothless had been trying to show him! Then they saw it. Or rather, her. It was huge. "He looks really mad." said Tuffnut.

"Uh, it's not a he. It's a she." said Hiccup. "That's Torch's mother."

"Torch is a baby!" exclaimed Astrid.

"That's what Toothless was trying to tell me." said Hiccup. He gave Valerie an apologetic look. She smiled. "Whoever gets in between that mother, and this baby...is gonna get fried!" cried Fishlegs. He handed Torch to Tuffnut, who handed him to Ruffnut. She passed him on to Snotlout. "Just leave it, and let's get out of here!" he said. He passed him on to Hiccup.

It had to be him. Of course it HAD to be him. The mother spotted her young. "Uh oh." said Hiccup. He set Torch down. "Go uh, go home to your mama." he said to him. "Run!" Torch's mother blew flames at them.

"You guys go that way! I'll go this way and lead her back into the forest!" said Hiccup. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. "Hiccup!" shouted Valerie. She tried to go after him, but Astrid stopped her. "Come on," she said. They climbed aboard Stormfly, and flew off.

Hiccup glanced back at the mother. "Oh, please stop following me!" he said. Not to the mother, to Torch. Just his luck. He made it to the gorge!

"Toothless!" he screamed. He jumped. He landed safely on Toothless and they flew up. "Thanks bud! Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I should have listened to you!" he said.

"Toothless? Evasive manoeuvres." said Hiccup. They flew for a few moments. "Oh why won't she stop?" said Hiccup. Then Torch made himself known. "Torch?! What are you doing? You need to be with your mother!"

"Toothless we have to try something else. We'll use your size against her." said Hiccup. Toothless caught on. "Toothless up!" they flew up to the sky. "Now, dive!" they dove as fast as they could. With the mother right on their tail.

Toothless flew fast into the forest safely. While the mother, crash landed due to her size. "I hope she's okay." said Hiccup. They landed beside her. Torch panicked and ran to her. He nudged her a bit. She opened her eyes and started to get up. Two more little ones hopped off of her back and joined their brother.

"Good job bud. Everybody's back where they belong." said Hiccup. They watched as the three young ones climbed onto their mother's wing. Hiccup waved to Torch. "Goodbye Torch." he said. He was so tiny compared to his mother. They watched as the mother flew off. "Let's go home Toothless." said Hiccup. He was suddenly very tired.

That night, Gobber and Valerie were at the Haddock's residence. Gobber was playing his pipes. "I wrote this, just for the occasion." he said. He started playing. "I should have known you were just trying to protect me. That's what you do." said Hiccup. "I guess I just have to learn to read the books as well as opening them." he looked at Valerie. She smiled at him.

Communication between dragon and rider goes both ways. Not only must the dragon follow the riders lead, but the rider must listen to the dragon as well. Sometimes what the dragon is trying to say, is what you really need to hear.

**A/N:** There it is guys! Wow. I can write a lot of stuff when I focus! I just have to...STAY focussed... anyways. Please, please, please!

I think you know what I'm pleasing about.


	6. New Arrivals

**A/N:** okay. Alright. How long has it been? A week? Two? Three? A month?! ...More?... Um...yeah... The reason for that? I made this one up! Yup! You read right people! It's an added in episode! Yeah, when I write something it usually takes a while. Sorry about that. I tried to hurry myself up without rushing. Plus I got a job so that didn't give me as much time. Also, I've been out of town for a bit. Then there's uh, also the fact that I've started a few other things...I can't help it! My mind just won't stop on new ideas! Oh well. I'll post them once I have enough chapters done.

(WARNING: other OC's introduced) that's the only hint I'm giving out about this "episode". Maybe a bit of fluff too. Or a lot. Meh, I guess it's up to you to decide on what's too much or too little. So- without further ado, chapter five!

The next morning Toothless had woken up early and decided to view the sunrise. He didn't get to do that often so, now was his chance or weeks later. There was a magnificent orange, pink, and red in the sky. It was beautiful! Toothless laid himself down on the rooftop of the Haddock residence. His gaze at the sun went absentmindedly to the Hofferson house. Toothless vaguely wondered what Stormfly thought of sunsets or sunrises. Suddenly a distant shout caught his attention.

He looked towards the sun again. There, on the horizon, was a ship. Toothless panicked for a second thinking it was Alvin and the Outcasts (an, well, an outcast group that were enemies of the Hooligans.) But soon he realised that this ship wasn't designed in the same way whatsoever. Plus, they had bright light blue sails, which meant they were a peaceful people. That was good. No violence this early in the morning. Also, the day that Alvin came in peace was the day that Toothless ate eels. The same went for the other dragons. Minus the Typhoomarang of course. Bleh, that thought brought up- _him_. Toothless shook his head to get the thought out.

The second thing was the symbol on the sail. It was a sun, with a crescent moon around it. The sun was yellow, like the real thing, while the moon was a darker blue. Interesting. Toothless had never seen- wait. That symbol. He _had_ seen that before! But- where?

It took him a few minutes to realise that he probably should wake up the Haddocks. Or at least, Hiccup. A new ship could mean anything. The sails said peace, but it could be a trick. It was best to be on guard no matter what.

Toothless jumped a little bit and made loud enough scratching noises that would wake up his rider. He heard him grumble. "Alright! Alright. I'm coming." he heard Hiccup sigh. Toothless was pleased with himself. Hiccup would soon realise the importance of him waking up this early. Other than the fact that Toothless now wanted to fly.

Hiccup sleepily got his head outside of the window and looked up at him. "Okay bud. What is it? You want to fly this early?" he asked. Toothless gestured his head towards the ships. Hiccup climbed up on top, looked in the direction, and gasped. "Oh man. Dad! Thanks bud! Good dragon!" said Hiccup. He quickly- but carefully- climbed back inside the house. "Dad? Oh come on dad, wake up!" Toothless looked down waiting for them to come out. It seemed that the chief did not want to be bothered this early. "Dad get up! There's a ship coming!" that seemed to get his attention.

"A Ship? Are you sure Hiccup?" said Stoik. They were now headed towards the docks. Stoik looked upon the horizon. "Well all be. I don't believe it." he said with a chuckle. Hiccup looked at him. "What is it? Who are they?" he asked.

"It's the Fire Tribe of the south! They're the ones we use to be at war with. The sails are of peace, so hopefully that means we've mellowed out over time. Oh- you said that Valerie was from that tribe right?" said Stoik. Hiccup looked at the ship. "Y-yeah..." he said. He looked down in thought. "Son?" said Stoik.

"Well- I- it's just...what if they're here to take her home?" he asked quietly.

From their right, Toothless made a noise in realisation. Valerie's tribe! Of course! Who else would it be really? "Son, I'm sure that we can work something out. Maybe they'll be able to stay for a while." Hiccup glanced up at him. Stoik couldn't tell if what he saw was hope, nervousness, fear, or excitement. Of course, knowing Hiccup, it could have been all of the above. That much he was sure of. Hiccup on the other hand, he was basically unsure of...well...

"U-um...uh, If it's okay with you, I think I'll take Toothless for a morning flight before they get here." said Hiccup. He petted said dragon on the nose. He cooed in return. Stoik chuckled. "Alright. But be back within two hours. That's when they'll reach the docks." he said. Hiccup smiled. "Okay." he said. He hopped onto Toothless once he'd put the saddle on. "See ya dad!" he called as they flew off into the mountain range.

After a few minutes of gliding across the sky, Toothless glanced up at his riders sigh. He was a little worried about him. He'd been quiet since they took off.

Toothless cooed to get his attention. "Huh? Oh, sorry bud. Just uh- just daydreaming. I guess I'm a little tired." he then chuckled. "Maybe you shouldn't wake me up so early next time." he said. Toothless sighed inwardly. He supposed he couldn't blame him, Toothless daydreamed too once in a while. Just about the usual. Like, flying, fish, Stormfly, flying, fish- okay so it wasn't a lot. But what's a dragon to do with his spare time when he couldn't fly without a human?

Sometimes he thought about operation Love Dragon. He had changed the name a while back considering that 'Love Dragon' was more original. The great winter holiday was getting closer, and he hadn't really gotten anywhere with his plans! Maybe he should enlist the other dragons for help. That could work. He figured that Stormfly would help. Meatlug would want to help too. He wasn't sure about Hookfang or Barf and Belch. He's known them for a while now and from what he's learned- they're not very up on the whole romance thing. Suddenly Toothless' attention was now focussed on flying.

His rider was quiet, and Toothless was quiet- which meant that neither of them had been paying attention to where they were going. Where were they going? Oh nowhere really. They were flying straight towards the mountain!

Toothless tried to slow down and turn. That jerked Hiccup into focus. "Whoa-whoa! Sorry! Uh-okay ah!" in a moment of last minute panic, Hiccup had accidentally steered them into the mountain. Toothless could hear a crushing noise. That wasn't good. He glanced back at his prosthetic tail. Yep. Just as he thought. The connection to Hiccup's stirrup, and the tail- was smashed. No connection. "Oh man! Not good. Okay. We'll just stay steady for as long as we can until we land." Hiccup paused. "Or crash..." he added. They were most likely going to do the second thing. Toothless was sure of it. Not once so far had they landed with grace once his tail had become unusable.

They glided kind of faster over the treetops of Berk. Luckily, they were a little ways from the village so they wouldn't land on any of the houses and dragons. Oh. Or uh, people.

They were now in amongst the many trees of the island, dodging them carefully. "We can do this. We can do this." Hiccup repeated. "Ah branch!" Suddenly a branch came out of nowhere. Toothless screeched in response, while Hiccup shouted. They hit it smack, dead on. It took them out instantly, and they began to free fall to the ground. They crashed through the tough branches. There was only one word to describe the landing. Pain.

Toothless had landed on his back, while Hiccup was on his stomach beside him. They both groaned as they tried to move. "Okay..." sighed Hiccup. "Note to self. Always- _always_ concentrate while flying near mountains."

Toothless sighed. _'No duh.'_ he grunted. Although it sounded like a snort. He was glad that at least none of the other dragons were there to see their crash. He'd been known as a graceful dragon in the sky. Not one to daydream and crash. Toothless got up, and surprisingly brought Hiccup with him. Toothless looked at him. Hiccup had gotten tangled up in the saddle's belt. Again. The leather had gotten wrapped around his waist somehow. He tugged at the leather. Then sighed. "Well at least we won't have to sneak around at night this time." he said. That was true. But they'd have to explain how they got this way. Toothless sighed again. Hookfang would be teasing him til next winter. Or forever. He wasn't the only one who would do so either. Toothless would just have to live with it. He was glad that there were actually some dragons with the decency to be kind and concerned about the well being of others.

"I guess we should head back before the clan gets to the docks. I'm not sure if _this_ would be a great first impression." laughed Hiccup.

It took them about twenty minutes to reach the village. The ship still had about half an hour or so before it reached the island. That was good. They had time to get their problem solved.

"Back so soo-uh. Hiccup-" Hiccup interrupted Stoik.

"Yeah, uh, we crashed. We're fine though." he glanced at the leather. "For the most part. Is Gobber up yet?"

Stoik laughed. "Yes, he's in the forge."

"Great! Thanks." said Hiccup. The two of them headed towards the familiar shack. Gobber was helping a dragon with his teeth when they arrived. "Um, Gobber, once you have a moment, could you uh-" Gobber glanced at Hiccup. They seemed fine. Wait. He did a double take. He started laughing along with the dragon he was attending too. Said dragon just so happened to be Hookfang. Much to Toothless' pleasure. Toothless sighed. "What'd ya do this time? How did that belt get tangled around ya?" said Gobber. He finished with Hookfang who stood a little ways back and kept laughing. "I'll never really know how this happened- but long story short- we crashed." said Hiccup. Hookfang would have said something, but he was too busy laughing.

"_Don't push it."_ snorted Toothless. He was sitting stiffly while glaring at Hookfang who was trying to stifle his laughter. It wasn't happening. Hiccup just happened to notice their interaction. "Oh. Sorry bud. I guess you're not one known for crashing huh." he said. Hookfang snorted. _"Nope. I can't wait til the others find out. Haha."_ he laughed. Toothless scowled. This wasn't the best start to a day on Berk. It wasn't particularly a big island either. The chances of hiding until it wore off were minimal.

"Hey Hiccup!" said a voice from the sky. They looked up to see Astrid and Stormfly fly down. "Oh hey Astrid." said Hiccup. Gobber had finished cutting a strip of leather. "Got it!" he said. But the leather just tightened around Hiccup. "Gah! G-Gobber!" he wheezed. He pulled at the leather. Gobber stared at it with a confused look. Hookfang was on the verge of laughing again. Toothless glared at him. "Huh. That wasn't suppose to happen. Ah well. Plan B it is then." Gobber had gone off to get something. Astrid and Stormfly landed gracefully beside them as Hiccup wheezed "Plan B?"

"Crash?" asked Astrid.

"Yes-" squeaked Hiccup. The leather was cutting off his circulation. Gobber soon came back- with an axe. "Wh-what are you-" squeaked Hiccup. For a second, all three dragons looked frightened. Mostly Toothless though he probably wouldn't admit it. "Uh, Gobber-" said Astrid.

"Stay still. Both of ya." said Gobber. The axe swung down in between Hiccup and Toothless and splitting the leather. The cutting of the leather had loosened the strip that was around Hiccup. He gasped in air. "You know, there was a less scary way to do that!" he gasped. Gobber put down the axe as Hiccup removed the leather. He looked down at it in his hands. "Man. That took a while to make. Along with the connection rod." he sighed.

"Well, if ya didn't have you're head in the clouds while flying, ya'd have been better off. Besides. I would never _purposely_ hurt a dragon. Or you." said Gobber. Hiccup and Toothless looked at each other. No one knew if that first sentence was suppose to be a joke or not. You could never really tell with Gobber.

Hookfang then flew off calling for Barf and Belch. Toothless looked up, and sighed. He'd never hear the end of it. _"Hey. Don't worry. I'll get them to shut up." _said Stormfly. Toothless looked at her. _"Thanks."_ he said. Stormfly then flew off in the same direction as Hookfang. They always had each other's backs. That was a nice feeling.

"There you are! Hiccup!" called a voice. They turned around to see Ruffnut. "The ship is at the docks and Stoik wants you." she said. She then left for the docks herself.

Once they got there, they saw that there was a small group of people, only about one family arriving. Plus the chief. Hiccup scanned the area for Valerie's familiar features. He realised he hadn't seen her yet and suddenly wanted to. Once he'd spotted her among the crowd, he walked over. She smiled once she saw him. "Hey." said Hiccup. "So- this is your..."

They gazed at the scene. The family was gathering up their bags and such as they got off the ship. "Family. Yeah. This is it. Oh, when I went back, I explained to them what had happened and about us. They're pretty excited to meet you." said Valerie. Something about that made Hiccup nervous. "Y-yeah? Me?" he tried not to sound nervous, but he was pretty sure he failed.

"Hey. I'm sure they'll like you. They were glad that I didn't get hurt. They'd like to thank you for what you've done." said Valerie. She smiled at him. Once again, he blushed but tried to ignore it. "Magnús Ericsson! It's been a long time!" came Stoik's loud voice.

The large man on the ship hopped off. "Stoik the Vast! I' has been a long time, hasn' i'?" said the man named Magnús. They shook hands. "How's the village? What brings you all here?" asked Stoik.

Magnús was as big as Stoik, if not bigger. He had red hair, like the other family, a big thick beard and mustache, and a deadly looking helmet that could have been used as a weapon. Hiccup hoped to make a good impression on this guy. He was obviously the chief. Hiccup swallowed nervously.

"Well, wha' brin's us her'? Why our ve'y own villag'r o course!" said Magnús. He had a really thick accent. Hiccup could just barely make out what he was saying.

Hiccup swallowed again. He knew it. They had come to bring her home. A sick feeling began to emerge in Hiccup. Although he tried not to show it.

"Ah, of course," laughed Stoik. "Valerie! Well. I do hope you can stay for a while Magnús. Things have changed a lot since you were here last." Magnús laughed. "I don' dou' they have! Why don' we ge' ou'selves settled hm? Then we can talk abo' those changes."he said cheerfully.

"Oh! One thing. Now- i' is my gre' honour to presen' my only son- Áfastr the Fierce! Áfastr!" said Magnus. Hiccup saw that Valerie rolled her eyes, but no one else seemed to have noticed. The chief's son stepped forwards. Hiccup swallowed again. This guy was big. Only a little bit bigger than Fishlegs. He looked like his father, minus the beard and mustache. It didn't help Hiccup's nerves one bit.

"Hello sir! It is a pleasure to meet you!" said Áfastr he bowed dramatically. Then he snuck a wink at Valerie. Hiccup cringed. He was thankful that she rolled her eyes. "So- I'd like ta meet _yer_ son Stoik. After all. I've go' to thank him fer takin' care o' one o' ou' own." said Magnús. Hiccup swallowed again. "Yes, of course!" said Stoik. He walked over behind Hiccup. "I present to you, _my_ only son- Hiccup." said Stoik. With that, five pairs of eyes were on him. Well, more if you counted the other teens. He didn't know what to do. It's not like he had a choice, he was suddenly frozen. He'd never acted like this before.

For one awkward, well, awkward for Hiccup, moment, no one had said anything. Hiccup couldn't move. His face heated up a bit when Valerie's family, the chief himself, and his son, looked at him oddly. The family was two parents, and a son. The parents were like the chief and his son, large. But not quite as large as them. The son was about the same size as Tuffnut, and probably just as strong if not stronger. He looked to be about a couple years older than the other teens. Valerie ran up to her mother. Once she'd hugged everyone, she turned to Hiccup. "Well, as you know, this is Hiccup. He's the one that helped me." she said.

The mother, who looked almost exactly like Valerie, except she had blue eyes instead of green, stepped forwards. "Thank you. For everything. If- if it weren't for you..." she trailed off. Tears were welling up in her eyes. "O-oh, it wasn't a problem. I was happy to do it." Hiccup said. The mother smiled at him as did the other two. "My name is Dalla. This is my husband Syvurr, and my son Tannr." she finished. "We can't thank you enough for what you've done."

"U-um, w-well..." Hiccup said quickly. He was probably failing at trying to hide his nervousness. Again.

"So, you should join Gobber and I in the Great Hall! We can discuss residence and of course the changes that have been made." said Stoik. Soon the adults left the teenagers to mingle.

"Ha. That went well." snickered Áfastr. Valerie glared at him.

Toothless watched them all from the shadows of the trees with interested. He was surprised that the two new guys hadn't seen him yet. Suddenly a pinecone fell on his face. He shook it off and looked up. A squirrel. The rodent threw down another one that landed close to Toothless' eye. _"Hey, I was here first!"_ he said to it. He threw another one. _"_Squirrels_. Fine."_ sighed Toothless. He quietly moved to a spot beside the tree and hid in the tall grass. He could have sworn that the smaller new guy had seen him, but he didn't show it. If that big guy had seen him, well, there might have been trouble.

You know, for Áfastr.

But that luck ran out. "Dragon! Get down!" shouted Áfastr. Hiccup instantly turned around to see Toothless watching them in the grass. "No! Stop!" Hiccup shouted. Áfastr suddenly charged at him! With an axe! Wait. Did he have that all along? Instead of pondering on it, Hiccup instinctively darted ahead, being that he was smaller and more light weight, he was faster. In seconds, he was in front of Toothless protectively. As well as the other teenagers soon after that. "What _are_ you doing?" demanded Áfastr. Toothless growled defensively at him. He glared back, and also had a kind of human growl as well.

"The changes, that our dads were talking about earlier? This was one of them!" said Hiccup, a little out of breath. Not so much from the running though. As Áfastr didn't say anything, he continued. "We don't have to fight dragons. They are definitely _not_ the _monsters_ we thought they were!"

Áfastr's grip on the axe tightened, and he started to lift it. Suddenly a hand clamped down on it. Áfastr glared at Tannr who glared back. "You hurt anyone, I'm sure your father would absolutely _love_ to hear about it. I'll make sure of that. If not me, someone else will." he said seriously. "Please continue Hiccup." he added without glancing at him. He continued to glare at Áfastr who glared back. "Um...okay. Uh, oh. Hey, how long do you guys have before you have to tour the village and such?" asked Hiccup.

"Oh, I'd say, a couple of hours I think." said Valerie. Toothless glanced at her then looked at Hiccup. Both she and Toothless knew what was coming. "Good, because you guys are in for a story!" said Fishlegs.

"Awesome! I could always go for a story!" Tannr said cheerfully, yet, he was still glaring at Áfastr who snorted. "Dude. I get it. Okay? You can back off." he said grudgingly. Tannr cautiously let go of the axe, and turned his attention to the others, but still kept an eye on him. "So- this story begins with a dragon raid." began Hiccup. With nothing delaying him, Hiccup went on with the amazing story he told Valerie not so long ago. She loved how enthusiastic he was when telling it.

When he was finished, Tannr was staring in shock and awe, while Áfastr..."You expect me to believe that." he said. The others just looked at him. "Um... yeah." said Snotlout.

"Why wouldn't you? Toothless is right here." said Astrid. Áfastr still didn't look like he believed. "What's it gonna take? Hiccup to fly around Berk on Toothless?" said Astrid. "Oh, I gotta go. My mom asked me to help her take care of the animals today. See ya." she then left to find Phlegma Hofferson.

"That could work."

"Um, that's a great plan! Except for the fact that Toothless and I sort of crashed this morning, and uh-" Gobber interrupted Hiccup.

"Sort of crashed? More like they nearly pummelled to their death! Ha! But as I always say, they're too stubborn for that. Here ya go! Left this behind!" he said. He tossed Hiccup the leather belt. Well, the remains of it. "Um, thanks." was all that he said.

"That's great!" They, minus Gobber who'd left, all looked at Tannr confused. "Uh, I mean- uh, you can fix that up then go flying later while the others show us around the village! Hey Val, why don't you help him?" he said. He then started pushing the two said people towards the left side of the village. "So, where is your smithy?" asked Tannr.

"The other direction." said Hiccup, sounding both confused and annoyed.

Tannr stopped. There was a pause before he turned them around and started heading the other way. The other teens, minus Astrid though because she had realised that she had to help her mother with something therefor left, and Toothless followed in interest.

The gang got to the smithy in no time, and Tannr pushed both Hiccup and Valerie inside. "Oh, and while you two are out flying, I think I saw a new dragon while flying with Hookfang! Around Raven's Point!" he chimed in. Before he closed the door, Tannr saw the curious and confused look on Hiccup's face. Then the door slammed shut. But it opened again.

"Oh, the reason for this? Áfastr actually can't go flying, Stoik wants the tour to start soon, so it's just you two." said Tannr.

"What-" started Áfastr, but he didn't get to finish.

"Wh-what-" Hiccup also got interrupted.

"Have fun!" called Snotlout. The door closed again.

Hiccup stared at the door. "Well...that was..." he said. He trailed off not knowing what to say. He glanced down at the leather in his hand. "Um, well, might as well get to work while we're here." he said. After finding a piece of leather and some metal, the two of them decided that Hiccup could teach her a little about what a blacksmith does.

After they've done that, the two of them climbed on to Toothless, who seemed very eager to go by the way, and they lifted off for Raven's Point. "Uh, Valerie I haven't gone blind have I?" asked Hiccup.

"Um, how would I know that? I think I'm the one who's blind." she said.

Over the hours on Berk, it had apparently gotten cloudier. But they weren't rain clouds, thankfully. "It could be fog. Maybe we should land." said Valerie. She was right, when you're in it, it's hard to tell whether or not it's fog or clouds. Or where you're going. They had _just_ lifted off. So, they were still much lower than the clouds. Or, uh, so they thought anyways. "Um, yeah that's probably- whoa!" shouted Hiccup. Something flew just over their heads. Apparently it was blind too. "Okay, Toothless, bring us down bud. We should wait for this to cle- whaaaoooh!" shouted Hiccup. The thing had come back, and this time it hit them. With such force that it knocked Hiccup out of the saddle. Luckily Valerie grabbed his hand. But unlucky for them, Toothless needed Hiccup to steer them. Only he knew how to fly with his tail. So, the result? They crashed into a rock. Or was it the mountain? It was too foggy or cloudy to even tell that much!

They were now heading towards the forest below them. They once again crashed into the rock, and Valerie's grip on Hiccup's hand slipped. Hiccup fell, but he didn't fall far. Apparently they were close to a small cliff so he landed on that. It might not have been far, but it wasn't exactly a soft landing. For a second Hiccup felt a little hazy, but he was up in no time. He looked around for Toothless and Valerie. He couldn't see them. "Valerie! Toothless!" he called.

At first there was nothing. This fog was too thick! But then he heard it. A dragon call. Only, it wasn't Toothless' familiar call. Suddenly a flash of blue went buzzing by him.

"Wha-what?" Hiccup said in surprise. Was that what had hit them? Was it a new dragon? "Valerie! Toothless!" he tried again. Nothing. Had they fallen too low to hear him? Where the heck was he anyways? How high off the ground was he? Hiccup backed up away from the edge of the cliff and propped himself up against the stone wall. He hoped he wasn't there for long.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a streak of black hurdling past him. Toothless. That must have been him! What other dragon was _that_ black? Then a streak of blue flew past in the same direction. Blue. What the heck was happening? It seemed huge too. What dragon was it? If it _was_ a dragon.

However, he was interrupted _again_ by a sharp pain in his left shoulder. What the heck? He knew the landing was rough, but, he was up in no time. He glanced down at his shoulder and saw two little slightly bloody bites. _Clunk!_ A few rocks fell down from above him and bounced off of the cliff. He looked up to see a small, dark green tail slither up and away from him. It was definitely a dragon. That was for sure. But the kind? Unknown. It seemed smaller than a Terror, but bigger than a Fireworm. The pain was worsening, and his arm was becoming numb. Two questions remained. One, what the heck had bit him? Two. Where the heck were Valerie and Toothless!

Suddenly, there was a roar. "Toothless?" said Hiccup. Were they still in the air? Had Valerie managed to control his tail? Then a sky blue body appeared. A dragon's body. It was huge! It was still incredibly foggy, so he couldn't see all of it. He did see two other images though. One was large, and laying on the huge dragon's back, the other was smaller, and sitting more to the left.

"Hiccup!"

"Valerie, what...um...what?" said Hiccup. His brain wasn't exactly working at the moment. His head was feeling fuzzy and frankly, he didn't know what would happen if he moved. He glanced down as Valerie climbed off of the dragon. "Hiccup, are you-"

"I- I think I got bit or something..." he said. He explained the situation to her. "Hm. Weird. Well, whatever it was, you should see Gothi right away." she said.

"Um. Right. Then I can see just what kind of dragon that is. It's huge!" said Hiccup.

From on top of the dragon, Toothless watched as Valerie led Hiccup to it. He cooed as Hiccup climbed on. "Okay girl, take us down." Valerie said to the dragon. Toothless looked at her. Girl? How could she tell? "Girl?" said Hiccup as if reading Toothless' mind. Valerie laughed. "Right. I can't actually tell. So what kind do you think it is?" she said.

Hiccup thought on it. "I'm not sure. There could be a lot of dragons this colour and size. The Typhoomarang is about this size. I've seen it come in different colours. What does it's head look like?"

"Um, I can't exactly tell. It has a long neck and the fog is covering it." giggled Valerie. Curse this fog. "Well...not a lot of dragons are this friendly at first. That we know of. Blue...Stormfly is blue...although her's is more darker. It can't be her. Plus Astrid would have probably been here."

"Hiccup-"

"It can carry three bodies, one of them even being a dragon. It has a long neck, large wings-"

"Hiccup-"

"If only this fog-"

"HICCUP!"

Hiccup looked up at Valerie from his thoughts. "What, s-sorry, what?" he stammered. Valerie glanced back at him. "What fog?" she simply said. He couldn't see the smirk on her face. Hiccup looked around. The fog had either disappeared, or they had been in clouds the entire time. "Oh...um...whoa!" exclaimed Hiccup. This dragon certainly was _huge_! He instantly knew what it was too. "Whoa- it-it's a Windwalker!" he said in awe. On Berk they haven't seen this type of dragon yet. It was almost as exciting as a new discovery- and they were riding it!

"It all makes sense now! Why it didn't just attack, or be defensive. Windwalker's are gentle and kind dragons. Plus there's the fact that they only eat insects. Cool!" said Hiccup.

Toothless looked at him. So, he was riding on a Windwalker. He thought they were just legends! He's only heard of them in stories and- he was riding on a dragon. A dragon was riding on a dragon. Toothless wasn't sure of what to make of the situation. It was a weird feeling. Maybe this was how the teenagers felt when they were riding them? Strange.

After a few minutes, Valerie realised something. Well, she'd known it before, but... "Um, Hiccup...we probably shouldn't land this dragon in the village." she said. Hiccup looked up from his arm. "Huh? Oh...right..." he said slowly. It was getting harder to think and concentrate on something. The pain from his arm was getting overwhelming.

"I'm not even sure if it'd fit in the cove... we could try I suppose. Hey, are there any fields or something like that near the village?" asked Valerie. There was no response. "Hiccup?" Still nothing. She glanced back. "Hiccup!"

**A/N**: Buwahahahahahahahahahaaaa! Yes, I am evil. Um, not sure what the heck I was doing with the accent...Anyways! What happened to Hiccup? Also, what were the other teens doing during all of this? You'll find out about Hiccup in the second part! As for the teens? More later on...(Sorry if there was a lack of action or lack of...whatever...um, in this one.) Yes, I do know that Windwalker's aren't in the tv series or the movie, but I wanted to find some kind of dragon for Valerie eventually and this seemed like the perfect choice! By the way...I haven't exactly started that chapter so it may take a while. Sorry about that. I'll try to get it done in good time though! :)

R & R please!


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